


Punch Line

by A_mimir



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Slow Burn, University AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:40:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 31,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23806282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_mimir/pseuds/A_mimir
Summary: When Jinsoul is hung up on a handful of bills her ex coldly threw at her, there’s only one place to spend that money!Through a drunken stupor Jinsoul and her friends find themselves at the arcade where things only go from bad to worse.By the end of the night her whole life may have just been turned upside down!
Relationships: Ha Sooyoung | Yves/Jung Jinsol | Jinsoul
Comments: 46
Kudos: 141





	1. Bills, Bills, Bills

Jinsoul’s eyes watered as she looked down at a couple of crumpled up bills in her hand. She had unceremoniously been dragged out by her friends to a bar in the heart of Hongdae. It was dim and the chatter of tipsy patrons filled the stuffy air. She sniffled as she thought about going home, crawling into a lonely bed and crying. 

“Stop it!” Haseul ordered, yanking the bills from Jinsoul’s weak grip. 

Jinsoul watched the older girl ball her money up in her fist angrily. It was unsurprising, Haseul was the sweetest girl sober. However, when she had alcohol in her system...she was downright scary. 

Kahei giggled as she leaned across the table to pry at Haseul’s hand. 

“Don’t be mean. Soulie is just going through a hard time right now,” Kahei softly said. Jinsoul pouted even harder at that. She hated the sound of pity in her friend’s voice. 

“She needs to get over it! That guy was an asshole, like, come on!” Haseul groaned, as she waved her hands around to get her point across. She almost smacked Jinsoul on the head in the process.

Kahei nodded, “he was complete and utter trash but you can’t rush her. She needs to go at her own pace.”

Jinsoul slumped deeper into her seat at that. She knew her best friends didn’t like her...well her ex boyfriend. But it still stung to hear them talk about him like that. 

“You’re better off without him!” the youngest in their group, Jiwoo, chirped happily. She was sipping on a fruity cocktail and messing with the garnish. 

“Can I have that back?” Jinsoul practically whispered watching Haseul’s hand. 

Jinsoul hadn’t touched her drink at all, it burned too much to be enjoyable. She would remember not to let Kahei order for her in the future. The oldest girl was the strongest drinker in their group. But Jinsoul assumed anyone who had a father that owned a distillery, would be.

Haseul snapped her head to the right to glare at Jinsoul. With her free hand she brought up her glass and gulped down the rest of her Vodka mixed with orange juice. 

Wiping at her wet lips with the back of her hand, she turned away to Kahei. 

“She shouldn’t keep this right? Like it’s so wrong, isn’t it?” Haseul asked, concern dripping into every word. 

“If she wants to keep that, then we shouldn’t stop her,” Kahei responded with a shrug. She had already lost interest in the conversation. Her glass was empty and she needed a refill. 

“Jiwoo?” Haseul asked, ignoring Kahei’s sensible answer. 

Jiwoo looked up from her phone, mid pose, “sorry, what were you saying?” 

Haseul rolled her eyes and groaned. “Jinsoul should definitely not keep this right? That asshole threw this at her! Like, that’s crazy! Why hold onto something like this?” She grumbled, squeezing the money tighter in her fist. She was imagining Jinsoul’s ex boyfriend’s stupid face. She would never understand what had been so charming about him. He was a just a failure amateur baseball player who was studying sports management. 

Jinsoul gulped back the urge to cry. The memories of that day a month ago would be seared into her brain for as long as she lived. The devastation and embarrassment she felt from walking in on her boyfriend with another woman, bubbled back up. They hadn’t been dating that long, but it was still earth shattering for her. She didn’t feel like she’d ever be able to trust anyone again. 

“Well, I mean it’s money,” Kahei answered, looking over the menu. The older girl was also the wealthiest of their group. She knew the importance of not throwing away your money, figuratively and literally. 

“I don’t know, I think I might be on Haseul’s side on this one,” Jiwoo said, she loudly slurped at her drink with a frown. It was rare for the both of them to agree on things. They were opposites, it was nothing short of a miracle that they were able to be so close. That miracle was named Kahei, she was studying fashion. Her need for a photographer and different unique locations had brought them all together. 

“See!” Haseul triumphantly yelled bringing attention to their table. The couple across from them shot her dirty looks. Her pitch was no joke and Jinsoul winced at the sudden sound. 

Kahei raised her hand up in the air to wave down the waitress at the bar. It was no secret that Kahei preferred the cute short girl as opposed to the tall clumsy waiter that always flirted with them. 

Jiwoo looked at Jinsoul, her frown deepening as she noticed the tears forming. She reached out for Jinsoul’s trembling hands. She hated seeing her friends cry, and unfortunately for her she was surrounded by crybaby’s. 

“Don’t be sad. You really are better off without him Jinsoul. He was totally weighing you down. You gotta look on the bright side!” Jiwoo chirped, squeezing Jinsoul’s larger hands. 

“You’ll be able to go into your senior year of university single!” 

Jinsoul scoffed, trying to pull away from Jiwoo’s grip. The younger girl was surprisingly strong for her tiny frame. She had only ever heard the stories of Jiwoo’s black belt in Taekwondo, never getting to see it live in action. The younger girl tightened her hold with a smile. 

“How is that a good thing?” Jinsoul sadly huffed, stealing a glance at Haseul’s fist. Jinsoul had no idea why she pathetically held onto the cash. She figured it was because it was the last thing he had given her, Taxi money. 

“Well duh! You get to focus completely on your studies. You had been complaining that you wanted to go to the library more often, now’s your chance,” Jiwoo happily replied. 

The waitress had come around with a smile and quickly taken Kahei’s order. Even though they had visited the bar multiple times, they never got her name. Just as fast as she had appeared, she was gone with the empty glasses. 

“You should also work on your music now that you’ll have the free time,” Kahei added, as she watched the waitress head back to the bar. She was excited for the surprise she had in order. If Kahei was going to loosen up, she’d need a little bit more power. 

Jinsoul was studying to be a marine biologist, but music would always be her first love. Biting her lip she blinked away the tears that threatened to spill. Her friends were right. She deserved to let go of what was weighing her down like an anchor.

“Okay,” Jinsoul shyly said, looking down at Jiwoo’s warm hands. They had taken her out for a reason. They knew that the blonde was sulking around all day, refusing to shower and wearing the same pajamas. They just wanted the old Jinsoul back. The one that laughed unabashedly at the worst jokes and whined for affection every waking hour. 

“I can’t hear you,” Haseul teased, bumping her shoulder against Jinsoul’s. 

“I said, okay!” Jinsoul repeated loudly. Her cheeks had flushed pink. 

“I want to see the commitment! Chug your drink!” Haseul egged on as she slammed the bills onto the table. They looked like trash, and Jinsoul briefly wondered how they hadn’t ripped yet.

Jiwoo clapped her hands excitedly as she squealed with delight. Even when Jinsoul was with her ex their group didn’t go out often. Jinsoul had one day gloomily mentioned that her ex didn’t like her going out without him. Jiwoo had to physically stop herself from beating him up. They all knew she could do it too. 

Jinsoul looked at her expectant friends before sighing and picking up her glass. She was the only one that had anything left. Pinching her nose she gulped down the alcohol, to drunken and embarrassing cheers. 

The heat expanded through her chest when she put down the glass on the table. She groaned, rubbing at her throat with a grimace. 

“That was so horrible!” Jinsoul complained, she really wasn’t much of a drinker. Less than a bottle of soju could have her wobbling down the side of the road. 

The cute waitress reappeared with a large smile at their rowdiness. She had a tray in her hand and four shooters filled to the brim with tequila. She knew how to take care of some of her favorite customers. 

“Wow!” Jiwoo shouted, vibrating in her seat. She loved drinking with the girls. Kahei was so nice and often bought them rounds. 

“Kahei,” Jinsoul warned as the girl in question moved the glasses around. 

“Don’t worry!” Kahei giggled as she dismissed Jinsoul’s concern with a wave of her hand. “Not only is this to celebrate your new found independence! But we’re going back to school next week! We need to celebrate before we all get too busy.” 

Jinsoul sighed and nodded, taking a hold of her glass. Four lime wedges were placed on a small plate and two salt shakers were on each side of the table. She could already tell that she would regret this night. 

On the count of three they all licked the salt stuck between their thumb and index finger. Jinsoul whimpered as she quickly shot back the tequila before fumbling with the lime wedge. 

They all slammed their glasses down, the sound ringing through the bar. Synchronized hisses escaped the girl’s lips as they looked around at each other. Jiwoo pumped her fist into the air before latching herself onto Kahei. The older girl giggled and wrapped her arms around Jiwoo and squished her cheek against the other girl. 

Haseul shot up in her seat, swaying from side to side with a wide grin on her face. Jinsoul squeezed her eyes shut at the movement. She could already feel the warm buzzing sensation take over her body. 

“I have the perfect idea!” Haseul laughed, her hand petting at Jinsoul’s head to get her attention. Jinsoul’s eyes fluttered open at the contact. She wished the warm hand on her head belonged to someone else. 

“I know exactly what we can do with your money.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They stumbled out of the bar and into the chilly air that immediately caused their dizziness to worsen. Jinsoul groaned as her eyes adjusted to the bright neon signs above her head. Locking her arm with Jiwoo, they followed behind Haseul and Kahei. Both girls laughed as they swayed harshly to the left almost bumping into a group of boys smoking. 

“Watch it!” Jiwoo grunted, quickening her pace and dragging a sluggish Jinsoul with her. 

“Too fast,” Jinsoul whined, deciding to eye her feet for safety measures. She couldn’t tell if it was worse or better than watching faces zoom by her. 

“Haseul! Where are we going?” Jiwoo called out after the girls, noticing their acceleration in speed. 

“Keeth up slowporkes,” Haseul slurred, throwing a glance over her shoulder at them. It was a bad decision on her part. When she turned forward, she tripped almost faceplanting. Kahei let out a scream at the sudden uneven weight distribution. 

Jiwoo burst out into laughter at the sight, hunching over and slapping at her knee. 

Jinsoul looked up, rubbing at her tired eyes. The streets were filled with young people all looking for the best place to fill up on food and drink a cold one. She wondered how’d they get home. The subway would be closing in the next thirty minutes. 

Jinsoul squinted her eyes at what looked like a group of students from their university. The familiar black and grey letterman jacket caught her attention. Her heart dropped and she looked back down. It was definitely from the athletics department. 

“Hurr yarh asses uf!” Haseul huffed, standing straight with the help of a giggling Kahei. 

Jinsoul reached out for Jiwoo’s arm, linking once more and allowing the younger girl to guide her. She didn’t want to accidentally make eye contact with anyone that might know her ex. 

When Jiwoo came to a stop Jinsoul finally looked up from her shoes. They were standing outside of one of the bigger arcades in Hongdae, Zzang Games. The red shipping container styled building was a familiar eyesore. 

“Why are we here?” Jinsoul asked, looking at Haseul who was now arguing with Kahei. Her body was still buzzing and she felt her eyes droop again. 

Kahei rolled her eyes and turned away from a pouting Haseul. 

“Why are you two fighting!?” Jiwoo screeched, letting go of Jinsoul to grab a hold of both girls. They all wobbled to the right, crashing into a wall. Jiwoo had them in what looked like a headlock. 

“Kahei wanted a smoke! I told her it’s not good for lungs!” Haseul cried out, tugging at Jiwoo’s arm. Jiwoo gasped letting Haseul go and focusing her energy on Kahei. 

The older girl whined as she struggled against Jiwoo’s power. 

“You shouldn’t smoke! It’s bad for you!” Jiwoo parroted Haseul’s advice. 

“Why are we here!?” Jinsoul mustered up her energy to yell at them. All three girls turned to look at her in surprise. 

“Hey have some respect for your seniors!” Haseul yelled back, fixing her shirt. 

“We’re here to spend this,” Haseul continued, taking out the balled up bills from her pocket. 

“Seriously?” Jinsoul chuckled disbelievingly. Why did she think that it would be something more dramatic than this? 

“What did you think we’d go to the Han River and sprinkle it in there or something?” Haseul retorted, crossing her arms over her chest. Her face was still red from the alcohol and her sad excuse for a glare made Jinsoul laugh. 

Jinsoul rubbed her eyes again as she sighed, “okay, what are we playing then?” She was starting to feel heavy and she swayed in place. She wasn’t even sure if she would have the energy to play anything. 

Jiwoo let go of Kahei’s head and jumped in place excitedly. 

“What are we playing!?” Jiwoo asked as she scanned the arcade. It was pretty busy for a Saturday at midnight. But Jiwoo knew how to be patient if she wanted to play a certain game. Worse case scenario, they could just bully their way to the control sticks. 

Haseul pointed up towards the other side of the entrance, “that’s our goal!

The girls turned, following Haseul’s finger to an empty machine. The Dragon Punch. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jinsoul swayed in front of the small red punching bag by her head. She was watching Haseul and Jiwoo stretch the wrinkled bills against the corner of the machine. 

“Damn these wrinkles are crazy, maybe we should just throw these bills away. I can pay for the game,” Haseul mumbled to Jiwoo. They had been at it for at least five minutes. Each time they fed the machine it would spit it right back out. 

“What’s the point of this again?” Jinsoul asked, her eyes taking longer to open with each blink. 

Kahei loudly laughed as she leaned her head against the machine. 

Haseul glared at her before dropping the bill to the floor in anger. Jiwoo stayed by the corner continuing to saw the edge of the machine with the bill. When she accidentally ripped through it, her eyes went wide. She shot a pleading look to Kahei who saw the whole thing. 

“You’re using the money that asshole threw at you and you’re going to think about his stupid face. Everything he’s ever done that made you mad! You’re gonna think about that and punch the fuck out of this bag” Haseul rambled, her hands had come up to hold Jinsoul’s head. She wiggled Jinsoul around and the blonde whined. 

“I’m too drunk to punch this bag!” Jinsoul cried, gripping at Haseul’s wrists. The movement made her want to vomit. She was seriously going to blow chunks all over Haseul if she didn’t stop. 

Jiwoo and Kahei were laughing loudly at the ripped bill that Jiwoo was using as ears. 

“Kahei! Get the machine ready!” Haseul yelled, her grip still on Jinsoul’s head. Kahei jumped at her name and Jiwoo dropped the ripped bill to the floor. 

“Why does it look like you’re gonna juice her?” Jiwoo asked, stumbling over to them. Kahei was busy rummaging through her purse looking for a single bill. 

“I’m trying to get her in the mood!” Haseul answered shaking Jinsoul’s head once more. It was the most unhelpful thing the older girl had ever done. 

“I’m literally going to throw up!” Jinsoul warned, her hand shooting up to seal her lips. 

Haseul gagged, releasing Jinsoul’s head. “You better not. I’ll throw up too!”

The machine lit up to life, Kahei had finally been able to add money. 

“Go!” Jiwoo screamed, hopping in place again. 

“Punch him!” Haseul added.

Jinsoul’s eyes widened in panic and she threw a sloppy punch at the red bag. She tipped forward and stumbled to the floor, knocking her knees. 

“Owww!” Jinsoul cried and she barely registered the extremely low score she had received. Her knuckles had barely grazed the fake leather. 

Before she knew it her body was being pulled off the ground. 

“Come on! Don’t let him do that to you!” Kahei grunted, supporting her. 

“Yeah he deserves it! Sock 'em in the face! Let him have it!” Jiwoo cheered, patting Jinsoul on the shoulder. 

“You need to show him that he made the biggest mistake of his life by cheating on you!” Haseul ordered Jinsoul, shaking her other shoulder. 

Jinsoul’s head began to frantically nod, her mouth had gone dry. She was pretty sure they were making a scene as well. 

“Get that running start!” Haseul yelled, shoving Jinsoul back with more force than anticipated. Realistically, the blonde was just too drunk to keep steady feet. 

Jinsoul stumbled backwards at full intoxicated speed. Everything seemed to go in slow motion, Jinsoul realized. She could clearly see the way Haseul’s eyes widened in shock. Jiwoo’s mouth had fallen open with worry and Kahei’s hands came up to cover her eyes. 

She was falling hard. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jinsoul’s head slammed against something sharp and she instantly screamed out in pain. The rest of her body had come down a bit softer. Someone had been able to catch her. She heard the raspy groan above her and looked down. Two thin hands were cupping her chest tightly. 

The death grip on her loosened before completely removing themselves. Jinsoul was still holding her head as she looked up to see a beautiful girl staring right down at her. She was wincing and holding her mouth with one hand. 

Jinsoul frowned as she noticed a blood trail down the girl’s fingers. She scrambled to her knees to face the injured girl when she realized what was happening. The situation had almost completely sobered her up. 

“Oh my god!” Jinsoul breathed out, putting pressure on her own throbbing head. “I’m so sorry!” 

The girl shook her head, avoiding eye contact with Jinsoul. Blood was really gushing down her chin and staining the sleeve of her jacket. 

“Jesus!” The girl’s friend yelled out, dropping down to the floor to examine her. Her light brown hair was tied up in a messy ponytail.

“You’re fucking bleeding Sooyoung!” Her friend concluded, trying to peel Sooyoung’s hand away for a better inspection. 

“Way to completely take that in the face,” another of Sooyoung’s friends said, crouching down beside her to check her out. 

“I’m so so so sorry!” Jinsoul whispered, tears springing out of her eyes. She had never made anyone bleed before. Her hands came up to pull at Sooyoung’s, to see what was being hidden underneath. 

Sooyoung’s hand weakly fell down and she heard a collected gasp. Jinsoul’s head had busted her lip open, and her gums had gotten bruised in the process. 

“Look what you did!” Jiwoo squeaked lightly punching Haseul’s arm. They had all come up behind Jinsoul to see what happened. 

“You should make sure you didn’t bite off some of Barbie's head,” Sooyoung’s friend said seriously, suspiciously eyeing Jinsoul. 

Jinsoul let out a strangled cry and everyone’s eyes shot up to her in surprise. 

“I’m so sorry!” She whimpered, wiping at tears that were freely flowing. The scowling arcade manager had finally made his way to them. They were causing a scene and stopping potential customers from coming in. He could only think to kick them out. 

They had been shooed off the property like a pack of unwanted cats. Kahei had pulled out some wet tissues from her purse and handed them to Sooyoung. Jinsoul didn’t stop crying the whole time. 

“We should get going Sooyoung,” her friend said looking at her phone. “I’m getting texts from everyone asking where we are.”

Sooyoung nodded, she hadn’t really said anything the whole time. 

Jiwoo was consoling Jinsoul but her eyes never left the girls in front of them. She might have been pretty buzzed but she still knew exactly who they were. Jinsoul hiccupped as she rubbed her eye, this was officially the worst day of her life. How could she be so stupid and clumsy. 

“You’re students right?” Sooyoung asked, staring at Jinsoul. The blonde had looked up at the stuffy and low sound of the girl.

“Yeah, we actually go to the same school,” Jiwoo answered before anyone else could. She tapped her own shoulder to indicate the black and grey letterman’s all three girls wore. 

Sooyoung nodded and slipped her jacket off. “If you’re actually so sorry you’ll fix this.” She ordered shoving her jacket into Jinsoul’s arms. 

“Wha-what,” Jinsoul breathed looking down at her arms. Sooyoung was even smaller without the protection of her large jacket. 

“My name is Ha Sooyoung. I’m a senior and in the Athletics department. I expect you to get the blood you made me drip onto my jacket off. Have it ready by the first day of class.” Sooyoung said, turning away to leave with her friends. 

“If you don’t give it back, I promise to make your life a living hell.


	2. Say My Name

Jinsoul loudly groaned as she stirred from sleep, her whole body was stiff and cold. A sudden wave of nausea hit her and she held her head tightly. 

“Fuck,” She whined, cracking one crusty eye open. 

She was on the floor of Haseul’s one bedroom apartment and she felt completely exhausted. She was wearing someone's shirt, inside out, and had no pants on. Her left hand was also covered by one of her socks. She winced when she realized someone had drawn eyes on it. 

“You’re finally awake,” Jiwoo croaked, practically crawling towards her. She somehow managed to look even worse than how Jinsoul felt. The bags under her eyes were deep and her face was ghastly pale.

“What happened?” Jinsoul questioned, trying to sit up but quickly failing. Her head fell back on something soft and she sighed. She couldn’t believe how hungover she was. She hadn’t gotten this bad since she was a freshman. The tinge of pain from the back of her head made her frown. 

“I don’t actually know,” Jiwoo giggled before groaning and holding her own head. “I threw up though, that’s for sure.” Jiwoo’s hand subconsciously swiped at her lips, the acidic taste still lingering. 

Jinsoul peeped at her again, barely noticing that Jiwoo’s hair was damp. Sniffing the air around her, she crinkled her nose in disgust. She smelled horrible, a strong scent of sweat and alcohol was stuck to her blonde hair. She even smelled a faint whiff of smoke. 

“I think we all threw up,” Haseul regretfully chimed in, wobbling towards them from the kitchen. She had found a passed out Jiwoo propped against her fridge earlier in the morning. Chunks of tteobokki had been splattered all over her sink. Haseul wondered how Jiwoo still managed to devour half her pantry with all the vomiting she did. 

“I didn’t throw up,” Kahei happily said, as she closed the door to Haseul’s room. She was also freshly showered. She held a towel in her hand and shook it lightly against her brown hair. She was wearing an ugly old frilly plaid shirt that clearly belonged to Haseul. Jinsoul frowned, it was amazing how something that was a crime against fashion on Haseul looked so good on Kahei. 

“Of course you didn’t, if you drank enough to throw up I think we would’ve actually died,” Haseul lightly teased, cracking a water bottle open. Her eyes flickered over to Jinsoul curiously when she noticed the blonde's intense stare. 

Jinsoul licked her lips, her mouth felt like cotton, if only she had the strength to get up. At this point she figured they may have to roll her to the bathroom so she could get clean. 

“What happened then? I can’t really remember anything,” Jiwoo pouted, reaching out for Haseul’s water. The older girl smiled and handed it to her without a second thought. The aggressive Haseul from last night, was completely gone. 

“Well, we went for a round two that turned into a round three, and then…” Kahei started before turning to look at Jinsoul with pity. The blonde was too busy watching the water bottle in Jiwoo’s grasp with desperation. 

When Jinsoul finally noticed the silence she turned to look at Kahei with a frown. The two older girls were staring at her like she had something on her face. Her hand came up to rub at her nose. Had they drawn on her?

“Uh well, you called your ex, Jinsoul,” Kahei stumbled over her words. Averting her gaze to Jiwoo who was gulping down water like she had never had some before. 

Jinsoul’s heart sank as she let out a shaky breath. She slowly looked around the room for her phone. Her eyes landed on an object taped to the wall, just above the light switch. She would’ve never been able to reach that if she was crawling around on the floor. 

“Oh god,” Jinsoul groaned. 

“Is that my phone?” Jinsoul asked, closing her eyes in shame. 

“It was the only way we could stop you from using it. You also complained a lot about being lonely. That’s why…” Kahei pointed to Jinsoul’s sock covered hand. They had made her someone to talk to after the other girls were too tired to stay awake. 

Jinsoul balled her sock covered hand into a fist. A blush broke out across her pale cheeks. They weren’t prepared for how wild and needy Jinsoul could get while completely wasted. 

“Anyways, you said that some girl answered,” Kahei continued, unsure of the blonde's reaction. Jinsoul was always one for the dramatics and Kahei didn’t want to get caught in the crossfire. 

The churn in Jinsoul’s stomach couldn’t be blamed on the ridiculous amount of alcohol she drank. A gas bubble made its way up her throat and she gulped it back. She was really starting to feel sick. 

“After that, you got really mad. Like I thought you were going to burst a vein,” Kahei slowly said, looking over at Haseul for support. She hated being the one to break bad news. She silently pleaded for some help from the shorter girl. 

“Oh no!” Haseul cried out as if on cue. Her hand clapped down on her mouth. Her eyes were wide and everyone but Kahei winced at the loud noise. The idea of an upset Jinsoul had jogged her memory. The night before had been pretty blurry. But one thing remained clear in her mind.

“Jinsoul,” Haseul mumbled through her fingers as she dropped down to her knees with a thud by the blonde's head. 

Jinsoul’s brows were scrunched up in worry as she watched the smaller girl look at her. She held her sock covered hand over her chest. 

“What? You’re scaring me,” Jinsoul squeaked. She squirmed under the older girls stare. 

Haseul reached under Jinsoul’s head, pulling out what the blonde thought was a blanket. Her head slipped onto the wooden floor and she winced as the throbbing was back. 

Realizing what Haseul had in her hands Jinsoul’s eyes widened. Her mouth dropped open in shock and she felt another gas bubble come up. She shut her lips tightly and covered it with her sock hand. The fabric was itchy against her skin. 

Haseul was holding an Athletics department letterman jacket. The leather on the left sleeve was torn in several spots. A patch of feathers was hanging by a thread and a couple of silver buttons were missing. It looked like a car had run over it. 

“Oh my god!” Jiwoo screeched, dropping the water bottle down with a hollow clatter. There was nothing left to spill and it rolled under the black TV stand. 

“You um, I think you were just so drunk you forgot who it belonged to. You tossed it out onto the street and, well,” Kahei informed her with a shrug when Haseul didn’t continue. If she knew, she would’ve stopped it. But she had been too busy caring for Haseul to notice Jinsoul’s rash behavior. She had only looked up in time to catch the blonde and Jiwoo cheering as they watched the busy road. 

“A car fucking ran it over!” Jiwoo yelled in disbelief, slapping her hand to her forehead. The memory was slowly coming back to her. She instantly felt bad. If Jinsoul didn’t remember, she wouldn’t bring it up. But she had fully supported Jinsoul’s decision. Jiwoo didn’t hate anyone in this world, but if she had to rank people she strongly disliked...Jinsoul’s ex would be on the top of her list. Unfortunately they both had forgotten who the rightful owner of the jacket was. Jiwoo bit her lip and shivered as the cold stare of Ha Sooyoung popped into her head.

Any color that had been present in Jinsoul’s face immediately drained. Her body lurched and she had to fight the urge to hurl in the living room. 

It would be a losing battle. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sooyoung sneezed and winced at the force of the movement. She rubbed at the tip of her button nose lightly. Her finger trailed down to her busted lip before she sighed and stared down at her bowl of soup with a scowl. She had been forced to sit out on today's practice due to her injuries. When asked what had happened, she had to lie through her bruised bunny teeth. Her coach had scoffed at her, “I tripped down the stairs,” excuse. 

She looked up when the reflection in her soup sloshed around violently. 

Her friend had placed her plate down with a loud bang and scraped her chair out. 

“You’re going to drop in weight if all you can eat is soup you know?” The shorter girl said with a frown. She was eyeing Sooyoung’s busted face with disgust, the dimples above her brows prominent. She couldn’t believe how unlucky the older girl was. 

“Isn’t that better for me? The lighter I am the faster I can run,” Sooyoung joked, cracking a weak smile. She needed to keep busy or she would just simmer in her bad mood for the rest of the day. 

Her friend rolled her eyes and stabbed her fork into the grilled chicken thigh on her plate. She was on a strict diet, the swimming season was about to begin. 

“We both know that’s not how that works. You’ll lose muscle. That just means you won’t win any track meets. Plus you’re already really skinny, you’d be bones if you dropped any more weight,” the girl said cutting into her food with her knife. Sooyoung stared longingly at the plate. She really wished she could eat some too. Her eyes danced around the steamed white rice and vegetables. She had been instructed by the student Athletic Trainer to stick to liquids for two weeks. 

“Stop. You look really pathetic,” a redhead called out as she too dropped her plate on the table with a bang. Sooyoung looked up with a glare. The girl plopped down into her chair with a huff. 

“Are you really going to pick a fight with me? Can’t you see I’m in pain?” Sooyoung asked, dramatically wincing and holding her jaw. She actually was in mild pain. But it was nothing she wasn’t used to on the track so she endured it. 

The redhead sighed as she pulled the wooden chopsticks out of their sleeve and tore them apart. 

“It’s not my fault your reflexes are shit, if that had been me I would’ve just,” the redhead said, swiping her hand to the side, effectively pushing the imaginary person away. 

Sooyoung scoffed, grabbing her spoon and dipping it harshly into her cold soup. 

“So what? You would’ve allowed that girl to just smash her head on the floor?” Sooyoung asked, swirling her spoon around. She wasn’t interested in drinking her lunch. She wanted to bite down into chicken breast without tearing up. Her leg restlessly bounced at the memory of the crying blonde. 

The redhead blinked at her as she held udon noodles to her open lips. 

“Of course,” she said before stuffing her face. She didn’t get why Sooyoung suddenly cared so much about strangers. 

Sooyoung rolled her eyes and turned to her other friend. The smaller girl shrank underneath Sooyoung’s piercing stare. 

“What about you Jungeun?” Sooyoung asked. 

Jungeun hestatied as she looked between both girls. She hated when she was put in the middle of their dumb little arguments. “I think I would’ve moved too honestly.” 

The redhead's finger shot up to mockingly point at Sooyoung. 

“See, you’re the only idiot that thought to catch a life sized barbie doll hurtling towards you,” the girl mumbled around a mouth full of noodles.

“Wait! Hyunjin, I definitely wouldn’t have pushed someone away from me like you implied. I’m just saying, Sooyoung, I probably would’ve moved away on reflex,” Jungeun frantically cleared up, pulling Hyunjin’s arm down onto the table. Her chicken was long forgotten. 

“I was just trying to be helpful,” Sooyoung grumbled, as she put down her spoon. She would never admit it but she had actually been too busy checking the girl out to react. She had a thing for blondes if she was being completely honest with herself. 

“Well your little stint as a hero got you fucked up,” Hyunjin seriously said. She followed Sooyoung and put her chopsticks down with a frown. It was obvious that Sooyoung was lying, at least to her. She had seen the way the older girls eyes were glued to the blonde ass. She was pretty sure that was the only reason they had even walked into the arcade that night. She knew for a fact that none of them were that interested in the claw machine they had put money into. She wondered if Jungeun knew how much of a pervert Sooyoung was. 

The shorter girl blissfully unaware of the true reasoning behind the crash watched as Sooyoung began to pout. She knew Hyunjin meant well but just didn’t know how to talk without being crass. They were both worried for Sooyoung's wellbeing. 

“We just want you to be careful Sooyoung. You could’ve seriously been injured. What if she fell on your leg or something? You’re lucky it was just your stupid face,” Jungeun said, hoping to lighten the tense mood. 

Sooyoung cracked a smile at that, she could always count on Jungeun to wear her heart on her sleeve. Unlike Hyunjin who watched closer than others expected and hid behind a blank expression. That’s probably why they seemed to butt heads often. They were two sides of the same coin. 

“Fine, I promise if any other girls come flying at me like that, I’ll just move,” she sarcastically said, looking over at Hyunjin. 

Hyunjin smiled but it didn’t quite reach her eyes, she nodded in agreement. 

“What about your jacket?” Jungeun asked, looking Sooyoung over. She was still in her black, white, and grey track uniform. A compression tank and loose shorts since she hadn’t run. It was odd to not see her wrapped up in it. Jungeun decided she didn’t like it. 

Sooyoung hummed as she looked at her friends, they both had their jackets on. It was tradition in the Athletic department, especially if you were on a team. She had definitely received a couple of weird looks earlier that day. She assumed people probably thought she got mugged. 

“Honestly, I think I was in shock. I don’t know why I gave it to her,” Sooyoung chuckled lightly as she scratched her cheek. She had actually wanted an excuse to see the crying girl in the daylight. 

Jungeun widened her eyes and Hyunjin loudly laughed, slapping her hand on the table. 

“Are you serious?!” Jungeun yelled, standing in a panic and causing a commotion. 

Sooyoung shyly shrugged, she didn’t like lying to Jungeun but she couldn’t tell her the truth. She decided to lie again, “kinda, all i heard was they were from the same school. And I know I didn’t wanna pay for the dry cleaning.”

She hummed, it wasn't a complete lie, getting that blood out of her jacket would’ve been a pain. 

“You’re crazy!” Hyunjin continued to laugh, wiping at the tears that had formed in her eyes. 

Jungeun slapped a hand to her face as she slowly breathed out. 

“Sooyoung, they could’ve been lying! They were obviously drinking! You might not get your jacket back you idiot!” Jungeun growled out. It’s not like she couldn’t buy a new one if that was the case. But it was about the memories the jacket held. 

Sooyoung puffed her cheeks at that, she hadn’t really had the time to think about it. Once they got back to the dorms last night she had taken several pain killers and fallen asleep. She had also been busy all morning at practice helping clean up the equipment and following the coach around like a duckling. She had just assumed the blonde would bring it back. 

“You think?” Sooyoung sadly asked, looking down at her sleeveless tanned arms. That would really suck if she had to pay for a replacement. She pushed away the thought that it had been handed down to her by someone. 

“No way! I know one of those girls!” Hyunjin chimed in, finally calming down. 

“Really? Who?” Jungeun questioned with narrowed eyes. She found it hard to believe that the redhead knew many people outside of her basketball team. Sooyoung had always been the most social one out of their group. If Sooyoung didn’t know someone then there was no hope. 

“That one girl that was helping out barbie! She’s a photographer. I’ve seen her around before taking pictures at several sporting events. She was even helping out one time when we took headshots for the roster online,” Hyunjin said nodding at her excellent memory. 

“What’s her name?” Jungeun asked while scrunching her eyebrows in disbelief. 

Hyunjin drew a sharp breath as she thought about it deeply. 

“Oh hm I’m not really sure. I can ask around the team though. She was really friendly with some of the girls, so maybe they know?” Hyunjin answered truthfully. 

Sooyoung nodded excitedly, “that’s a good plan, I’m sure someone knows her. We can track down barbie after.” The buzzing she felt was definitely about getting her jacket back and not about meeting the blonde again. 

Jungeun sighed, “if I was blondie I don’t know if I’d even show up to school anymore. You threatened her, remember? I doubt her friend will just give her up so easily.” 

“That’s true,” Hyunjin agreed, wincing at the memory. “You told her you’d kill her if she didn’t give it back.” 

“What!?” Sooyoung shrieked, suddenly embarrassed. “I didn’t say I’d kill her!” She had completely forgotten she threatened her. Sooyoung cursed herself for letting her harshness slip out. 

“You said, “I’ll make your life a living hell,” and then flipped her off,” Hyunjin corrected. 

“Stop lying!” Sooyoung squeaked, looking around the busy cafeteria.

“My family is rich and powerful,” Hyunjin lowered her voice and cracked her knuckles. “If you don’t give me my jacket back you don’t want to know what’ll happen to you.”

Sooyoung glared at the redhead. 

“The point is you did sound threatening. And this girl may go into hiding because of you. So just be aware of that,” Jungeun said, slapping a grinning Hyunjin. 

Sooyoung sighed as she sank into her chair. She really didn’t mean to threaten the girl. Her body had gone into autopilot after being smacked. She wasn’t really thinking about what she was saying. 

“That could totally mess up my cool reputation,” Sooyoung said rubbing her hands over her bare knees worriedly. 

Hyunjin snorted as she threw her head back in laughter. 

“Why does that worry sound so genuine,” Jungeun groaned. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Haseul was frantically scrubbing the floor in the living room with a frown. 

“If I have to clean up vomit one more time, I think I’ll flip,” she grunted to herself in the living room. She brought the back of her forearm up to wipe at the sweat on her forehead. 

Her bedroom door opened slowly and Jiwoo came out holding a weak Jinsoul around the waist. 

“I’m so sorry,” Jinsoul grumbled, her eyes were red and puffy. After throwing up Jinsoul broke out in tears again. Jiwoo was on consoling duty while Kahei had stepped out to buy lunch. They all needed something heavy and greasy to soak up the alcohol in their stomachs. 

Haseul waived the apology away, “it’s okay Soulie, you didn’t do it on purpose, don’t worry.” She shoved the wet towels into a plastic waste bag and slowly stood up. 

“Yeah don’t even worry about it Jinsoul. You’re totally fine,” Jiwoo chirped, rubbing small circles into the blonde’s hip. 

When they sat down on the black leather couch in the living room, Jinsoul’s lip began to quiver. 

“Hey why are you crying again huh? It’s all gone see?” Haseul pointed to the now cleaned floor, a strong scent of lemon filled the room. 

Jinsoul shook her head and pointed to the jacket that was hidden away in the kitchen. It was the only way to stop the girl from uncontrollable sobbing. 

“I don’t even know that girl and I destroyed her jacket!” Jinsoul cried out, her voice breaking off. 

Jinsoul was doomed and both girls knew it. 

“Come on! I’m sure she’ll understand the situation,” Haseul said, not really believing her own words. 

“Yeah, totally, I’ve heard that Ha Sooyoung is…” Jiwoo hesitated as she thought of all the things she knew about her. Sooyoung tended to be serious on the track but playful off. She also kept a tight knit group that was hard to infiltrate. She was charming, but Jiwoo gnawed on her lip. She heard that Sooyoung was just a wolf in sheep's clothing. 

“Nice,” Jiwoo lamely ended. 

The door to the apartment beeped as the passcode was imputed. With a small chime, Kahei entered, a bag in each hand. She had picked up double patty burgers with everything on them, large fries, and coca cola for everyone. 

Haseul turned to watch Kahei slowly walk into the living room. The crying sound coming from Jinsoul had made her hesitate. 

“She sh-she said she’d make my life a living hell!” Jinsoul cried harder, wiping at her eyes. 

“She’s not going to do that! I won’t let her. Did you forget? I’m a black belt okay? I’ll keep you safe, so don’t worry,” Jiwoo seriously said, holding Jinsoul’s shaking shoulders. 

“If she tries anything I’ll beat her up,” Jiwoo fumed, the idea of Jinsoul being scared for her safety really pissed her off. 

“You will do no such thing!” Haseul scolded, slapping Jiwoo’s arm. 

“I agree with Jiwoo,” Kahei said, carefully walking around the cleaned dried spot on the floor. She placed the bags on the small coffee table and sat down. 

Haseul frowned at the older girl's betrayal. 

“Kahei, you can’t be serious? We shouldn’t encourage violence,” Haseul preached. 

The older girl shrugged and began to take out the burgers. 

“I’m not encouraging Jiwoo to beat anyone up. I’m just saying that if this Ha Sooyoung or her little friends try something, she should protect Jinsoul,” Kahei said, eyeing Jinsoul clinging to Jiwoo. It reminded her of a koala and she softly smiled.

Haseul sighed and scratched the back of her neck. 

“Look, I understand that, but we should definitely try to fix the problem instead of just preparing for a fight right?” Haseul questioned, reaching for a burger, she was starving. 

“Sure but, how would we fix that?” Kahei asked looking over to the kitchen. Jiwoo and Jinsoul silently watched the two older girls. 

“There’s got to be someone you know who could help!” Haseul angrily huffed, biting into her burger. 

Kahei pursed her lips in thought as she racked her brain for someone that could possibly perform a miracle. She knew plenty of people in the fashion industry. Finding someone that wouldn’t charge a huge fee was hard though. 

“Oh!” She happily exclaimed, she quickly took out her phone. Scrolling through her contacts she pulled someone’s information up. 

“She’s really talented, plus she’s still a student so she probably won’t be too expensive Jinsoul,” Kahei said, turning her phone towards her friends. 

Jinsoul blinked, bewildered at the picture on the screen. 

“She looks like a middle schooler,” Haseul dejectedly whispered. 

“She’s cute!” Jiwoo chirped, leaning forward to get a better look. 

“She’s your only shot,” Kahei told Jinsoul. 

Jinsoul sighed and sadly nodded. If a middle schooler could help fix her mess she would do anything the girl asked. 

“Great! I’ll get in contact with her. Hopefully we can meet up with her soon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow okay! 
> 
> Hi everybody~ So now we got some plot going. It seems like Sooyoung is in for a big surprise...
> 
> If you like this story please go ahead and leave a Kudo or comment! Any kind of feedback is always truly appreciated. 
> 
> Y’all can also find me on twitter :)
> 
> p.s. If you’re reading my other story, I promise to update that one soon as well❤️


	3. Jumpin’ Jumpin’

Jinsoul chewed on her fingernails nervously as she paced up and down the seemingly empty street. Jiwoo worriedly threw glances up at her every now and then. She was squatting near a brick wall, a nintendo switch in hand and a soft melody mixing into the air. Kahei was having a hushed conversation over the phone in cantonese. A pink and white shopping bag containing the ruined jacket sat at her feet. With a groan she quickly hung up, shoving her phone deep into her purse. 

“Everything okay?” Jiwoo asked, looking over at Kahei. She wasn’t used to hearing the older girl sound so distressed. She couldn’t help but to miss Haseul at that moment. Haseul always knew how to calm any situation down. They would unfortunately have to wait until the weekend to see her again. She had packed up a few outfits and taken off for the Student Orientation being held outside of Seoul. She was a high ranking member on the student committee in her department and needed to welcome the incoming freshman. 

Kahei simply hummed in response, her eyes following Jinsoul’s every move. She wasn’t in the mood to get into how insufferable her father could be. The never ending threats of cutting her off if she didn’t come home soon, slowly getting to her. She had come to South Korea to pursue an education and her eventual career. She didn’t understand why her father felt the need to control everything about her. 

“Where is she!?” Jinsoul finally cracked, she spun around eyeing the surrounding area with a frantic look. There was no sign of the small girl who had agreed to help them. They had been waiting outside of a two story studio for almost ten minutes. It was surprisingly only about four blocks away from the university. Something that made Jinsoul more nervous as time ticked by. 

“Well, she said she was on her way,” Kahei calmly answered, looking down the street. When she only saw a grandma with a tiny white poodle she bit her lip. She decided to give it five more minutes and then she would call. 

“I’m sure she’s close by. Why don’t you come over here? You can play my game,” Jiwoo cutely said, patting the dirty brick wall by her side. Jinsoul had been insanely tense for the past two days. Jiwoo wouldn’t be surprised if she found out Jinsoul was hardly sleeping. The light makeup she wore wasn’t enough to hide the tired circles under her eyes 

“I don’t want to play games! I just want to fix this stupid jacket, it’s already Wednesday! We go back to school in six days. If I don’t have this ready for Ha Sooyoung by then...” Jinsoul trailed off wincing and gabbing at her hair. She didn’t want to think about what the girl would do to her. She had obsessively researched Sooyoung over social media. However, Sooyoung’s endless private accounts limited Jinsoul’s idea of the girl. All she found out was that they had been in the same circles due to her baseball playing ex, yet they had never met before. 

“Nothing will happen, I promise,” Jiwoo sternly said, jumping up from her spot to place a reassuring hand on Jinsoul’s shoulder. She had repeated those words over a hundred times by then. It was the only thing keeping Jinsoul from completely losing it. 

Jinsoul stared down at Jiwoo’s hand, her anxiety had been overwhelming. She was always careful with her own belongings. Her shelves were filled with all sorts of collectibles, neatly lined up and dusted every other day. The idea that she had ruined someone else’s property had swallowed her up with guilt. She knew she deserved whatever punishment Sooyoung would give her. 

“Oh she’s here!” Kahei called out, pointing her slender finger at a short girl running towards them. 

“I am so sorry!” The girl yelled out as she reached them. The sound of her shoes connecting with concrete echoing. 

“I was at a meeting and it ran longer than expected. I’m so sorry!” The girl huffed, out of breath. She hunched over placing her hands on her denim covered knees. She really needed to workout more, her endurance was shit. 

“Don’t worry, we weren’t waiting long,” Kahei answered first, her eyes on Jinsoul. She could tell the blonde was about to scold the younger girl. It wouldn’t do them any good if they started arguing right off the bat. 

Jinsoul pouted before nodding her head along to Kahei’s lie. Even though tardiness was one of her pet peeves, this small girl was her only hope. 

“I’m surprised you contacted me though,” the girl said standing up straight to look at Kahei curiously. “I mean, it’s an honor of course! It’s just unexpected I suppose.” 

Kahei smiled at her, picking the shopping bag up, “you left a really good impression on me when we collaborated your first year.” 

The girl blushed a bright shade of pink and nervously ran a hand through her sandy blonde hair. She wasn’t used to compliments on her work from seniors. Her loud voice and over enthusiastic behavior usually drove away those around her. 

Jinsoul cleared her throat as she shot Kahei an impatient stare. It was great that they were getting along so well, but the jacket wouldn’t fix itself. 

“Right! Shall we get started then?” Kahei politely asked, opening the door to the building for them. 

“Oh wait! I’m sorry, I haven’t introduced myself yet. My name is Im Yeojin, sophomore and fashion major. It’s a pleasure to work with you!” She said, her voice booming even while she lowered her head sheepishly. 

Jiwoo smiled brightly at the younger girl, and tightened her hold on Jinsoul reassuringly. 

“I’m Kim Jiwoo, photography major and junior! This is Jung Jinsoul,” Jiwoo said happily, shaking the blonde to continue her own introduction.

“I’m a senior and major in marine biology,” Jinsoul hastily said, giving a forced smile. 

“Great! Now that we know each other, follow me! My mom’s photography studio is on the second floor. She lets me borrow it when the classrooms get a little too crowded,” Yeojin rambled, walking into the building. Jiwoo excitedly squealed at the knowledge that Yeojin’s mother was a fellow lover of photography. 

“My aunt actually owns the basement floor, they like to play music to set the mood,” Yeojin informed the girls as she led them up the single flight of stairs. An old pop song was blaring through the speakers. 

“What does your aunt do?” Jiwoo asked, sparing a glance down at the basement floor. She would’ve guessed it was closed if it hadn’t been for the flashing twinkle lights around the doorframe. 

“She’s a hairstylist!” Yeojin easily answered, reaching the studio and quickly unlocking the door. 

The studio was small, the camera and lighting equipment were on one half of the room. Two small vanities separated the other half, a makeshift waiting room. In the far back two desks were cramped together by the window. 

Jiwoo gravitated towards the camera equipment with a skip in her step. Her hands hovering over the tripod with vibrating excitement. 

Yeojin quickly made her way to the desk with the sewing machine. Fabric littered the surface along with several different colors of thread. A small open plastic storage box held all the different buttons and accessories she often used. It was similar to a war zone. 

“So what is it that you need me to work on anyway?” Yeojin asked, trying to clear her workspace. “You didn’t really give me any specifics. Which is fine obviously, but I might not have the right stuff on me, you know?” Yeojin continued to ramble, her back to them. 

Kahei pushed the bag into Jinsoul’s hand and signaled her to talk.

Jinsoul begrudgingly took it and stepped over to Yeojin. She silently towered behind the small girl until she finally turned around. 

“Jesus!” Yeojin gasped and brought her hand to her chest, annoyed at the surprise. She had always been easily scared. Kahei stifled her laughter with a dainty hand to her lips. 

“Sorry,” Jinsoul mumbled. She shoved her hand into the bag before letting it drop to the floor. “I need your help to fix this,” Jinsoul said holding the folded jacket in her trembling hand. 

Yeojin narrowed her eyes as she examined what was in Jinsoul’s grasp. Taking a hold of the jacket she let it unravel to see exactly what she would be working on. Her eyes quickly widened before she shot a panicked look at Kahei. 

“You gotta be kidding me!” Yeojin screeched, dropping the jacket to the floor as if it had physically burned her. Jinsoul grimaced and Jiwoo’s head whipped around to see what the commotion was about. Kahei averted her eyes away to stare at an interesting framed photo on the wall. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yeojin sighed as she stared at the pathetic letterman sprawled out on her desk. This was way more than she bargained for. She couldn’t believe how sneaky her senior was. Scratching at her head she groaned and turned to look at Jinsoul with narrowed eyes. They were basically making her an accomplice now. 

“Please Yeojin, I really need you to help me,” Jinsoul begged, she was clasping her hands together tightly, slightly shaking them. She had resigned herself to stooping as low as dropping to her knees in desperation if needed. She was only glad that no one else from school was around to see how pitiful she looked. 

Yeojin was immediately uncomfortable at having someone older than her beg. She grimaced and turned back to the ruined jacket. It was unique, and anyone with eyes could tell who it belonged to. She had seen the jacket on the track star many times before. Ha Sooyoung had decked it out with several interesting patches. They ranged from important wins to what Yeojin presumed to be inside jokes. Either way many of those were now hanging by a thread or completely missing. 

“How did this even happen?” Yeojin asked instead. She couldn’t imagine what had caused this amount of destruction. It also didn’t make any sense as to why a random girl like Jung Jinsoul would have the jacket. As far as Yeojin knew, Sooyoung didn’t hang out with anyone that wasn’t on a sports team. Yeojin eyed Jinsoul with a raised brow. Her focus flowed from jinsoul’s wavy blonde hair to her simple black long sleeve shirt tucked into a brown checkered skirt and black converse. There was nothing that really stood out and made her special. Maybe they had a class together, Yeojin thought, snapping her eyes back to the older girl's face. 

“Look, long story short we got majorly drunk. There was a punch...on accident! Obviously...some bleeding, a call to an ex, more alcohol and a car. But none of that matters, so please just help me out! I’m willing to do anything to fix this,” Jinsoul whined, taking a needy step closer to Yeojin. The younger girl blinked rapidly before her brows scrunched up together. She looked back at the jacket dumbfounded. That had just raised more questions, that she really wanted answers to now. 

“I mean, I can try but I can’t promise you anything. Whatever you guys ended up doing to this jacket really messed it up. Honestly...it might just be easier to replace it,” Yeojin muttered, running her finger over the rough and dirty ripped fabric. She pulled her hand away in disgust and wiped it clean on her jeans when she realized there was blood on the sleeve. 

Jinsoul shut her eyes tightly, she was afraid of that. How could she ever replace something so valuable? Even if she did replace it, she had no clue where she could get all those patches. She actually wasn’t even sure which patches were missing. But more importantly why was Ha Sooyoung stupid enough to give it to her in the first place? If she wasn’t completely terrified of Sooyoung’s warranted anger, she would’ve given her a piece of her mind. 

“Yeojin is really talented, don’t worry Soul,” Kahei softly said, patting Jinsoul on the back. She had noticed how the taller girl seemed to unsteadily sway in place. 

“I can start work on it now but this could take me a couple of days,” Yeojin said, turning to check if that was alright with Jinsoul. Instead of an understanding smile she was faced with a blonde that looked as pale as a ghost. 

“Are you okay?” Yeojin asked, reaching her small hand out. It wouldn’t be the first time someone had passed out in her mother’s studio. Sure, it was her fault since she cut her finger in front of the customer. But she would never forget the way the color drained from that person, it was pretty similar to Jinsoul now. Yeojin mentally prepared herself to get the first aid kit under her mother’s desk. 

“I think I just need air,” Jinsoul breathed out. She was really starting to feel lightheaded being in the tiny studio. 

“I’ll go with you!” Jiwoo chirped, hurrying to Jinsoul’s side. Jinsoul gave her a weak smile and nodded, taking her offered hand with her own clammy one. If she hadn’t felt like she was about to pass out she would’ve been more embarrassed of the dampness. It was something she had been extra conscious of when she was dating her ex. Frequently wiping her hand on her clothes when he made jokes about it. 

“Don’t be out too long,” Kahei quickly called as she watched them head towards the door. Jiwoo turned back and smiled, giving her a thumbs up. 

“She’s in good hands! We’ll be back soon,” Jiwoo said, closing the door behind them with a wave. Kahei pursed her lips in worry. She had quickly come to find that the combination of both girls usually ended in chaos. She sighed, deciding she had made the wrong choice in letting them go alone. 

“Your friends seem nice,” Yeojin quietly said, breaking the awkward silence. She was all too aware that they were the only ones left in the studio. Her face began to heat up at the way her words seemed to hang in the air. Even though she had been essentially tricked into helping, she really didn’t want to let down Kahei. This was the first time a senior was trusting her with a project. She wanted to show that she was worthy of being a fashion major. 

Kahei turned to look at Yeojin and smiled when she caught the younger girl's wary stare. 

“They are, I’m sorry about Jinsoul by the way, she’s usually friendlier. She’s just got a lot on her plate right now,” Kahei said, worried that Yeojin would have a bad first impression of the taller blonde. She walked over to the closest vanity. And looked at her reflection, sighing she ran a hand through her hair. It had gotten a bit tousled while they were waiting outside. 

Yeojin nodded her head silently, not feeling the need to respond with more than that. When her silver watch beeped signifying a new hour, she looked down. A digital 5:00pm glared back at her and she narrowed her eyes in thought. She was forgetting something but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

“Ah,” she squeaked, quickly looking out the window to catch a glimpse of Jinsoul and Jiwoo’s retreating frames. 

“Did you say something?” Kahei asked looking over at the shorter girl who whirled away from the window in suspicious panic. Kahei was holding one of the many hair accessories made available to the customers for their photo shoots. She tilted her head to the side, waiting for an answer. 

Yeojin shook her head and turned back to the jacket. She brought her fingers up to pinch at her bottom lip and frowned. 

The track team usually ran through the streets around five. 

Yeojin sighed and gave a small shrug, it was probably nothing to worry about. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sooyoung frowned as she was face to face with her mountain of a coach. She found it hard to believe that the man had once been on the national team with the way he ungracefully moved. Her bruised lip had started to annoyingly scab over and the skin was dark and crusted. It was embarrassing and she hid it with a black face mask. Her coach pushed forward a yellow bicycle that seemed to be made for toddlers when placed next to him. Sooyoung crossed her arms with a groan. 

“This is a joke right?” Sooyoung questioned behind the soft cotton. She had stomped her foot down like a child. Her brows were knitted and she was glaring at him. 

“Not at all, you’re on sweeping duty today,” her coach said inching the bicycle closer. The front tire lightly bumped against Sooyoung’s sneaker. She took an offended step back at the contact. 

“Coach, you can’t be serious. Why do I have to do this?” Isn’t there something better you could have me do?” Sooyoung asked with a roll of her eyes. She knew there was no hope from the beginning, talking to him was like talking to a wall. You weren’t a true member of the team unless you had shed some tears at the hands of the head coach. It was a rite of passage that all new recruits were warned of. 

“Keep that whining up and I’ll have you rearrange the equipment closet all over again,” her coach said, finally transferring the bike over with a victorious grin. 

Sooyoung took a hold of the handle bars with a pout that couldn’t be completely appreciated due to her mask. She really hated the equipment closet with a passion. It was full of a bunch of junk that hardly saw the light of day. And it was just a safety hazard, if she could avoid being stuck in there for hours again she would. She had almost died the first time she cleaned it. A couple of broken javelins had rolled off the top shelf and almost impaled her. She had loudly screamed out in frustration when she realized the close call. Her coach had simply patted her shoulder with a shrug when she told him. 

“Now hurry up, they have a ten minute start on you,” her coach said shooing her away with a large hand. He snatched his clipboard from the assistant coach and ran his thick finger down the different stats of each runner. It brought a scowl to his face and he shoved the clipboard back to the assistant coach. It slammed against the younger and thinner man’s chest with a metallic thud and his face silently contorted in pain. 

“Don’t go easy on them, you all need to work on getting faster,” her coach commanded in his low and gruff voice. It sent shivers down her spine and she had to fight back the memories of brutal practices that ended with blisters on her feet. 

With a shudder Sooyoung threw her long leg over the seat and got on. Checking that the breaks on the handles worked, she put her shoe to the pedal. Sooyoung wouldn’t have put it past her coach to give her a faulty bike. She hated having to sweep up stragglers, she was too used to staying in the front of the pack. It was honestly hard to keep at a steady pace that didn’t completely wipe out the slower runners. She sadly yearned to use her own body to power through the streets. It was an amazing sensation and she deeply missed it even if it had only been a couple of days. With one last glance at her coach she took off, scowling. Whoever she caught up to first would really regret it. 

Jiwoo and Jinsoul held hands as they walked out of the neighborhood and into the main street. The air was surprisingly fresh and there was a nice breeze that lightly shook the leaves on the trees lining the road. It was beautiful and instantly calming. The chatter of all sorts of people out on a stroll blended into each other. A buzz that quickly became constant background noise. 

“We should get some drinks! I’m sure Kahei and Yeojin would like that. I wonder what Yeojin likes to drink? She’s so tiny and cute, I bet she likes sweets,” Jiwoo thought out loud as she swung their hands together. Her grip hadn’t let up the whole time they were walking. It was like she was afraid Jinsoul would float away without someone to ground her. 

Jinsoul looked down at their hands and back up at Jiwoo when she realized the girl had stopped talking. 

“What would you like to drink?” Jiwoo kindly asked, bringing her free hand up to pet Jinsoul’s head lovingly. 

“Ice Americano?” Jinsoul decided with a shrug. She wasn’t really in the mood for drinks. But even in her anxious state she could tell Jiwoo was really trying. She needed to be a more considerate friend. 

“Good choice!” Jiwoo chirped, bouncing on her heels. They had come to a stop in front of a popular cafe. With a tug Jiwoo made a move to head inside but was stopped by a firmly rooted Jinsoul. 

“Is it fine if I stay out here? I really did want some air. Oh and don’t worry I’ll pay!” Jinsoul said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a thin blue card case. 

“No, no, no! I’ll pay! I’m the one who brought it up anyways,” Jiwoo protested, pushing Jinsoul’s outstretched hand back. 

“Come on, let me do this, you’ve been really helping me lately. It’s the least I can do,” Jinsoul asserted, placing the card case into Jiwoo’s hand. The younger girl pouted for a second before she broke out in a smile. 

“Thank you! I’ll be right back, don’t go anywhere okay?” Jiwoo seriously said before skipping into the cafe. When she got in line she turned around and waved at Jinsoul. The blonde chuckled and waved back from where she was standing. When Jiwoo looked away Jinsoul sighed. She focused back on the road that had grown busier with people going home for the day. She wondered about their lives, what kind of problems they had. Who they were going home to and if they were happy. 

“WATCH OUT!” A man yelled from behind her and startled her out of her daze. She jumped away from the noise with a yelp and landed closer to the road, almost tripping over. She glared at the man's back and slowly realized that he was wearing a track uniform. Whipping her head to where the man had come from her eyes connected with a familiar pair. Jinsoul had memorized Sooyoung’s piercing stare from the many photos she was tagged in online. The taller girl hardly ever looked happy to be photographed. It made her gasp and she quickly covered it with her sudden trembling hand. 

Sooyoung clutched the breaks and skidded to a stop on her bike. A loud screech escaped the tires and she steadied herself by putting both feet down. She couldn’t help the smile that exploded across her lips underneath the mask. She hadn’t thought it would be so easy to find the girl before school started. She would have to call off the search that Hyunjin had started at her request. 

“It’s you,” Sooyoung breathed out. She glanced around when she noticed the blonde was alone. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t a little relieved by that. It was hard having conversations when the person you wanted to talk to was surrounded by friends. 

Those simple words had sounded much more intimidating to Jinsoul’s ears. They burned and she was sure that they had turned red. She peered into the cafe only to see that Jiwoo was in the middle of ordering. Of course this would happen to her when Jiwoo was busy. 

“I’ve been looking for you,” Sooyoung said, scratching at her neck. Her slow teammate had been completely forgotten. “I mean, you have my jacket, which is obviously why I’m looking for you.” It sounded weird even to her and she mentally slapped herself. It wasn’t like her to feel shy when talking to girls. But maybe the blonde had seriously knocked some of her screws loose that saturday night. 

Jinsoul’s eyes widened and she gulped back saliva. She felt a sudden wave of nausea and fear pulse throughout her body. 

“Uh? Is there something wrong?” Sooyoung asked, finally noticing the way the blonde was frozen in place and staring off into the distance. She looked behind her shoulder curiously, unsure if someone was behind her. Maybe the blonde hadn’t been alone, she thought. Had she interrupted a date?

At the distraction Jinsoul shot off like a rocket, running past Sooyoung. She needed to get back to the studio. If she could make it back she’d be safe. Fuck was chanted religiously in her mind as her long legs took wide and powerful strides. She was a straight up coward but there was no way she could beat Sooyoung in a fight if it came down to it. She just really didn’t want to end up on a viral video for being knocked out. 

Sooyoung raised her brows as she watched the blonde turn the corner. When her body finally caught up to her mind, she scoffed in disbelief. Leaning to the left to throw her right leg over the top tube of the frame she got off. Tapping the kickstand out she stared at the bike, hoping it would be there when she got back or else her coach would kill her. Jungeun had been right, this girl was trying to keep her jacket. The blonde probably wasn’t even a student. Shaking her arms out she fell into her running stance. That blondie was out of her damn mind if she thought she could outrun a literal athlete. Sooyoung took off running with laser focus she usually only reserved for competitions. 

Jiwoo happily hummed as she walked out of the cafe. The barista had been so nice, offering to give her extra whipped cream that she gladly accepted. She held her sugary drink in her right hand and three other drinks in a cup holder in her left. Looking around, she cocked her head to the side in confusion. 

“Jinsoul?” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The brown checkered skirt was beginning to ride up jinsoul’s pale legs with every powerful step. Her heart was pumping loudly in her ears and she could feel a slight burn in her lungs. She didn’t dare turn around. Too terrified to find out whether or not the taller girl was following behind her. 

Sooyoung had easily caught up within less than a minute. She slowed her pace down so she could have a little bit of fun with the blonde. Not to mention it was a nice view, but she shook that thought away. Beautiful girls like the one in front of her only ever got her in messy situations. 

“Is that it? I’m honestly disappointed,” Sooyoung called from behind Jinsoul. She wasn’t expecting the girl to be a runner or anything. But who runs away if they’re not even fast. 

Jinsoul whirled around at the silky voice so close to her ear and lost her footing. Sooyoung faltered at the way the blonde tumbled and unceremoniously sprawled out onto the street like a starfish.

Jinsoul groaned, feeling a sting on her knees from the impact. She was staring up at the blue sky, the only cloud drifting by reminded her of a middle finger. She shut her eyes tightly at that, even God was mocking her. 

When Jinsoul felt two soft hands firmly grab her thighs, her eyes snapped open. She quickly sat up through the ache of her back and looked at Sooyoung who was crouching by her.

Sooyoung was looking the other way embarrassed, she had pushed Jinsoul’s legs together holding them tightly. Her fingers dug deep into Jinsoul’s soft flesh. 

“There’s people around,” Sooyoung said as she eyed two creepy older men that were walking by and watching them. Sooyoung spoke to her so casually, like they had known each other longer than they did. Or like she hadn’t just chased Jinsoul down the street. 

“Don’t touch me,” Jinsoul whispered. Her face was on fire as she glared at Sooyoung’s hands. They contrasted heavily against her skin, it was clear the taller girl was often outside under the sun. It was the complete opposite of Jinsoul, even in the summer she spent her days indoors. Lounging around or helping with research at the local aquarium. 

Sooyoung slowly slid her hands off Jinsoul’s warm thighs. She eyed the girl with a frown, a thanks would’ve been nice, she thought. 

“Show your panties to whoever you want then. I really don’t care, I just want my jacket back,” Sooyoung coldly said standing up and shoving her hands deep into the pockets of her track warm ups. 

Jinsoul humorlessly chuckled and slowly got to her feet. She patted her butt and lower back for any dirt. Noticing the curious looks they were receiving from people and she chose to stare down at her shoes. Her knees were red and angry, skin had flaked up and blood slowly rolled down. 

“Where’s my jacket?” Sooyoung asked to bring Jinsoul’s attention back to her. 

“I..uh,” Jinsoul said, avoiding the taller girl's dark stare. She looked back down to her knees, only mildly registering the blood. 

“Is it at your house?” Sooyoung asked, brows knitting at the suspicious behavior. 

“No…it’s, um I,” Jinsoul said, feeling heat rise up the back of her neck. There was no excuse, her brain was blanking. 

“You what?” Sooyoung questioned, her hands had come out of her pockets. She folded them against her chest, not liking wherever this was going. 

“There was an...accident,” Jinsoul all but mumbled. Her body was shaking from the nerves and guilt. 

“An...accident?” Sooyoung repeated dumbly. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When the door to the studio flew open, Kahei turned around. Jinsoul was standing rigid and silent. It was odd and Kahei’s eyes immediately scanned the blonde only to focus on her scraped knees. 

“You’re bleeding!” Kahei said, taking a step towards the younger girl. 

Yeojin stopped mid stitch and looked up in surprise. They had been gone awhile and she had just assumed they wouldn’t be coming back. 

When Jinsoul stepped to the side and allowed Ha Sooyoung to walk in, Yeojin jumped up. Her hands flew to the air and she stepped away from her desk. 

“It wasn’t me!” Yeojin squeaked, moving to hide behind Kahei. 

Kahei put her hand out protectively when she realized Yeojin had scurried to her. 

“What’s going on? Why is she here? Are you okay Jinsoul? What happened to Jiwoo?” Kahei asked, the questions spilled from her mouth faster than Jinsoul was used to hearing. 

Sooyoung’s eyes never left the jacket on the table as she slowly made her way to it. Her fingers ran across the damaged leather. Her patches were gone and some of the letters were shredded. She looked up to hold back the sudden sting in her eyes. She really hadn’t expected this. 

Kahei reached out for Jinsoul to get closer but the blonde didn’t move from the door. She was too preoccupied watching the taller girl's back for any sudden movement. 

“I am so sorry, I’ll fix it. I promise,” Jinsoul said, her voice was quivering. 

Sooyoung slammed her hands down on the table, Yeojin’s things rattled loudly. Kahei swiftly placed herself between both girls. She wasn’t as tall or a black belt but that wouldn’t stop her from trying to protect her friend. Jinsoul reached out and put a sweaty hand on Kahei’s shoulder. She squeezed it before lightly pushing the older girl away. Jinsoul was the one at fault and she deserved whatever punishment Sooyoung wanted to give her. 

Sooyoung breathed out and turned on her heel to glare at Jinsoul. 

“You’ll fix this,” Sooyoung commanded, stepping forward. She had slid her mask off, the scabs were ugly and made Jinsoul feel worse. 

“I promise,” Jinsoul said, nodding her head. “I really am sorry.”

With a tired sigh Sooyoung scratched her forehead before lifting her mask back over her lips. She finally took in the two other girls in the room. She remembered the brunette from the weekend. But the short one was new. If there was one thing she hated, it was unnecessarily ruining her own image. 

“I’d like updates,” Sooyoung said, her tone had lightened up. It made Jinsoul frown at the sudden change in demeanor. Sooyoung slipped her phone out of her pocket, ignoring the missed call from her coach.

“Oh...uh, yeah sure,” Jinsoul replied, fumbling to bring her phone out. Jiwoo had messaged her like crazy. Another thing to feel guilty about, she bitterly thought. She rambled out her number to the taller girl with a heavy sense of unease.

“So what’s your name blondie,” Sooyoung asked, taking another menacing step forward. 

“Jung Jinsoul,” Jinsoul answered, she had to fight the urge to take a step back. 

Sooyoung hummed as she finished creating the new contact. When she slipped her phone back into her pocket she gave Jinsoul a peculiar look. Something about it caused dread to build up in her stomach. It was dark and calculating, she was faking being okay. 

Sooyoung took the last few steps to reach the blonde and leaned forward. The cotton of her mask brushed against Jinsoul’s ear and she sucked in a breath. 

“When I call, you answer. When I text, you answer. Wherever you are, whoever you’re with, you answer, got it?” Sooyoung whispered. it was the same low and silky voice she had scared Jinsoul with earlier. 

Kahei watched their interaction with a scowl, she couldn’t hear what was going on. The music from outside the studio was spilling into the room making it hard to hear the whispers. 

“Y-yeah,” Jinsoul replied. 

Sooyoung pulled back satisfied and waved towards the two other girls. 

“I have to get going, thanks for helping to fix my jacket. Oh and make sure you wash that out, it could get infected,” Sooyoung said, pointing down at Jinsoul’s knees. 

Jinsoul numbly nodded. The girls watched as Sooyoung made her way out of the studio and down the stairs. 

“What just happened?” Yeojin asked, taking a step towards her mother’s desk. It really was a good thing they had a first aid kit. 

“I have no idea,” Jinsoul said, rubbing the ear Sooyoung had blown hot air onto. What did Sooyoung want from her? What kind of hell would she be put through? Jinsoul’s mind raced as she nervously bit her lip. 

She would have to wait until Sooyoung reached out to her. 

xxxxxxxxxx

So now we’re finally going to get into the real plot in the next chapter. I hope everyone enjoys this update! If you did please feel free to leave a comment or a kudo! Also I gave up on the authors note. I totally don’t know how to fix that so I’ll be leaving notes through here. 

Twitter : A_Mimirr


	4. Stay

Haseul scratched out the last name on her list with her red pen as she watched the bus door close excruciatingly slow. When she was left standing alone, she groaned loudly and stretched out feeling the stress leave her body by the tips of her fingers. Even though she had a fun time getting to know the incoming freshman, she was happy to finally be free of responsibility. Looking down at her green duffel bag on the curb she lightly kicked it with her sneaker, it was old and there were several homemade patches covering tears. She had let the other supervisors know that she would be taking off as soon as her kids were accounted for and heading home. Taking a glance at her silver digital watch she chewed on her lip impatiently. She wanted to see her friends already. They had planned a day trip, just a little something to relax right before classes started. In reality, they were using it as an excuse to eat really good beef and maybe throw back some cold beers. When Haseul noticed a familiar white Genesis Sedan slowing down she plucked her duffel bag up with a smile. 

Kahei rolled to a stop as she lowered the passenger window with a click of a button. Jiwoo eagerly stuck her head out with a bright grin and waved. 

“Haseul! I missed you so much!” Jiwoo screeched in her dolphin-like pitch. Half of her body was hanging out of the window as she excitedly wiggled around. It made Haseul laugh as she got close enough to pat the younger girls head. Peaking in she smiled at Kahei who waved in return. It was silly but she was actually really glad to see her bestfriends. The week had been too long without their nagging and teasing.

“Please don’t leave me alone with the girls ever again,” Kahei joked as she unlocked the doors for Haseul. The shorter girl was much better at keeping the peace in their group when the jokes got out of hand. Kahei always had a bad habit of being interested in watching drama unfold or simply not caring enough to get involved. 

“That’s true, Kahei only makes things worse!” Jiwoo nodded with a teasing smirk as she watched Haseul pull the back door open. Remembering the elephant in the room she quickly shot a worried look over to the driver who mirrored her. They hadn’t given Haseul a heads up in the change of plans. Kahei had figured it would be easier to continue with their trip if they just bombarded the shorter girl with the news. There would be no way for her to call it off if Jiwoo had come as well. 

“Huh? Where’s Jinsoul?” Haseul asked, looking around the spotless backseat suspiciously. There was no room for the blonde to be hiding from her. Unless she had shoved herself in the spacious trunk. Which wasn’t something Haseul would be surprised at if it was true, it had been proven that at least three people could fit in the older girls trunk comfortably. They also all enjoyed a nice laugh at the expense of her extreme cowardness. In fact, it had caused many of their little squabbles in the past and Jinsoul along with the cool headed Kahei were the usual suspects. 

Jiwoo turned back in her seat to pout at Haseul as the girl refused to come in. She was too scared it was some sort of trick. 

“She said a family thing came up,” Kahei answered, giggling at Haseul’s caution. She glanced out the window as cars zoomed by them. The speed slightly shook her parked car. 

“You’re joking!” Haseul yelled, pulling out of the car to stare doubtfully at the trunk. She found it hard to believe that Jinsoul would skip out on their trip. Especially when the girl was so stressed about the jacket. She was under the impression that it wouldn’t be as bad now since she had gotten someone to help out. 

“She really did suddenly say that a family thing came up Haseul,” Jiwoo called out from her window. She had been just as wary when Kahei was the only one in the car. She was harder to scare but sometimes Jinsoul thought it was funny to try. 

Haseul’s brows knitted together as she slowly placed her duffel bag into the back seat, behind Kahei. She took one last look behind her, a sudden feeling of being watched spooking her. She knew she was just being paranoid, there was no way Jinsoul could’ve been waiting around for this moment just to scare her, unless...

“This better not be some sort of prank,” Haseul said sternly as she quickly shut the door after her. She watched the small tree line behind the bus stop for any sign of blonde hair. When enough seconds ticked by she turned away to look at a confused Jiwoo. Haseul sighed, the cool air was heaven sent and she deeply relaxed into the black leather seat. The weight of her early morning feeling heavy on her body. 

Kahei giggled and shook her head, “I promise this isn’t a prank. We were just as surprised about it as you.” She waited for both girls to buckle up before shifting gears and stepping on the gas. They had quite the drive to go until reaching their destination and she was starving. The idea of grilled tender beef making her mouth salivate. 

“She’s been acting weirder than usual this week. I mean she totally ditched me the other day,” Jiwoo muttered as she crossed her arms at the memory. She had stupidly walked around checking for the blonde for almost fifthteen minutes. When she didn’t find her in any of the nearby stores she quickly made her way back to Yeojin’s studio. “I’m supposed to be her bodyguard! How can I guard her body if she ditches me? It’s crazy!” 

“Well she obviously ran into Sooyoung. She was probably nervous and felt the need to explain what happened. Although, I was kinda shocked,” Kahei said, as she used her blinker to merge into the left lane. 

Haseul silently watched their exchange with narrowed eyes. She had heard that Jinsoul had come back with scraped knees. The blonde had made some lame excuse about being clumsy and tripping over while taking Sooyoung back to the studio. It hadn’t sat well with her but by the time she read the message the group chat had already moved past it. 

“She didn’t seem as mad as I thought she’d be. Plus she even asked for Jinsoul’s number to stay updated on the jacket…maybe she’s not that bad,” Kahei said, eyes never leaving the road and giving a small shrug. 

Haseul hummed, not completely convinced, “yeah, maybe.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jinsoul wiped her brow as she stopped in front of the school gates. A whine escaped her lips as she tucked stray hair behind her right ear. The heat was the worst it had been all week. On top of that, the shortcut with the elevators she took on most school days had been closed for maintenance. Jinsoul grabbed the back of her oversized white top and flapped it furiously to let cool air hit her back. With her free hand she pulled out her phone from the butt pocket of her jeans and looked at the text she had received earlier in the day. 

“Meet me at the track. H.S.” 

Sooyoung’s notification had come right as she was getting ready to be picked up by Kahei. She had happily skipped over to her phone on her crowded dresser before noticing the unknown number. It had made her blood run cold and she even dropped her lipstick in a panic, the red tint staining the white wood. She had stared at the message dumbly for a handful of minutes before realizing she would have to bail on their trip. 

Jinsoul scowled at the message and shook her phone in her hand while cursing Sooyoung silently. She had put off eating dinner the night before so she could stuff herself with food the next day. Her stomach pathetically grumbled for the fifth time since she stepped out of her house. She had no time to stop by one of the corner stores and eat. She didn’t want to give Sooyoung any more reason to potentially be angry with her. 

Truthfully, Jinsoul wasn’t even sure where the track was on campus. Sports had never really been her thing to begin with. Her mother had always been particular with how she spent her free time growing up. Outdoor activities were for kids whose parents didn’t instil studious behaviors at a young age. Or at least that’s what her mother would always say when she tried to play with the neighborhood children. It had been isolating as a child and she even blamed her overall weak muscles on it. But at least she was always one of the top students in her grade.

Jinsoul sluggishly stomped up the dreaded hill only to come to a stop at the top with a heavy grunt. Her legs were already burning from the steepness and all she wanted was to just lay down. She could feel the fatigue of hunger begin to crawl through her body.

A weathered board displayed the campus layout to her left. It was something she never paid any attention to in her four years at the university. She had only needed to know where the library, science building, and cafeteria were. Taking a quick picture and noting where the athletics department was, she began her long trek to the back of the campus. 

By the time she got there Jinsoul was frantically fanning her face. Her brows were tightly knitted together and a pink flush covered her cheeks as she entered the track. The sound of whistles blowing and men yelling were prominent. It made her heart pound with anxiety as she slowed down to take in the sight before her. The majority of the track and field team were doing full body workouts on the green artificial turf. Jinsoul’s eyes roamed over the sculpted bodies in search of Sooyoung. Not seeing the taller girl she rolled her eyes and pulled her phone out to send her a text.

The sudden bang of a starter pistol caused Jinsoul to let out a scream as she instinctively threw her hands up to cover her ears. In the process her phone was sent flying. She watched it skid across the rough red rubber flooring in horror. A burst of noise by the athletes on the turf caused her eyes to shoot up just in time to catch a beast barreling down the lane. 

Sooyoung powerfully sprinted down the track as her coach timed her. He had finally gotten sick of seeing her mope around at not being able to participate in practice. It had given him an idea and he wickedly slapped a speed parachute on her to start her on strength training. 

Jinsoul’s eyes widened in awe as she watched the parachute attached to the harness on Sooyoung’s waist expand. The drag forced the taller girl’s features to contort in what looked like pain as she pushed her muscles harder down the track. Passing her coach she slowed to a jog before stopping altogether and placing her hands over her head in exhaustion. The parachute fell limply to the floor and she breathed heavily as she made eye contact with the blonde. The corner of her lip twitched and Jinsoul could’ve sworn she was smirking. 

Sooyoung was proudly wearing a white sports bra and neon pink shorts showing off her figure. Jinsoul couldn’t help the way her eyes trailed down the taller girl's body. Sooyoung’s frame was tiny but toned, her abs were easily visible and it made the blonde feel a little self conscious. Jinsoul was pretty sure she could wrap her hands around Sooyoung’s waist if she really tried. 

“Took you long enough,” Sooyoung said, as she dropped her hands down to her sides. Jinsoul’s eyes snapped back up to glare at the taller girl's bored expression. 

“Well, you didn’t exactly give me a warning. I tried to get here as fast as I could,” Jinsoul replied angrily in a drawl that was only made worse by her drained energy. Sweat rolled down her back and it added to her bad mood. 

Sooyoung mockingly pouted before she scooped the blonde’s phone off the ground. 

“You’re lucky I stopped before stepping on this,” Sooyoung said, effectively changing the subject. She pinched Jinsoul’s phone at the top left corner as if it was dirty. 

Jinsoul dryly scoffed in disbelief, she had run out of luck the moment she entered that arcade. 

“Don’t go anywhere blondie,” Sooyoung coolly called as she turned on her heel. She slipped the phone into the side band of her shorts and made her way back to her coach. Jinsoul shivered in disgust at the action. Her phone would undoubtedly be covered in the taller girls sweat. 

Even though the simple thought of Sooyoung made her itch with nerves and anger she stood rooted in place like the girl had ordered. Jinsoul watched as Sooyoung spoke to her coach. They were too far away to listen to but Jinsoul held back a snicker at the way the taller girl stomped her foot like a child. She scrutinized how Sooyoung ripped off the harness from her small waist and shoved it back in the coach’s waiting hand. The blonde figured that her results must have been bad for her to react that way. 

Jinsoul instantly shrank back when Sooyoung turned and sneered at her. She averted her gaze when the taller girl began her march towards her. It was the only way to keep from her knee-jerk reaction to bolt in fear. She knew that it would only lead to another embarrassing failure. Her legs were still sore from the last fall she took. 

“Follow me,” Sooyoung demanded once she was close enough to the blonde. She didn’t hesitate even when she saw the way Jinsoul’s body jumped in surprise. Sooyoung led them to the bleachers where she plopped down with a huff. Her body sinking deep into the metal bench, the warmth was a welcome sting to her muscles. Jinsoul awkwardly stood by the girl as she looked back out onto the field unsure of what to do next. Sooyoung still had her phone tucked into her shorts and she briefly wondered when she would get it back. 

“Why’d you ask me to come here?” Jinsoul finally questioned. It was soft and it put Sooyoung on alert immediately. She wasn’t used to the blonde's drawl and rather low tone. Something about it sorta ticked her off. 

“Because I could,” Sooyoung answered truthfully. “You destroyed my jacket and you owe me. I plan on making sure you properly pay me back until I’m satisfied.” 

Jinsoul frowned, staring at the athletes do high-knee jumps, “so what is this then? You’re making me sound like some kind of dog forced to come at your beck and call. Are you planning to bully me or something if I don’t agree?” 

Sooyoung laughed bringing Jinsoul’s attention down onto her. It was sweet and somehow refreshing in the heat. The taller girl’s eyes crinkled with delight and for the first time since receiving the text message Jinsoul felt strangely calm. 

“I guess you could call it that. I honestly don’t mind if you want to think of yourself as my dog.” Sooyoung said, smirking at the shocked look on the blonde's face. She had gone bright red and it made Sooyoung tingle with giddiness. “But either way I think it’s a little extreme to say I’ll bully you. We’re both adults after all and I’m sure we can come to another agreement.”

“I-I di..I didn’t mean it like that! I would never!” Jinsoul stumbled over her words, embarrassed that Sooyoung would even suggest something so humiliating. “You’re insufferable! I don’t want to do whatever this is. Give me the other option.” The taller girl grinned pleasantly surprised that the blonde had spoken the fastest yet. 

“Well, the other option is you pay me in full. Of course I’ll have to calculate the cost of everything. That jacket was pretty important to me. Plus it had a lot of sentimental value and how do you go about putting a price on that,” Sooyoung rambled, tapping her chin with her finger. “You’ll also have to cover the fee of replacing it obviously. And aren’t you already paying your short friend?” She finished while waving her hand low to the floor.

Jinsoul deflated at the mention of money, she had barely scraped up enough to pay Yeojin. She knew the younger girl's price was so cheap due to having Kahei around. There was no way she could handle whatever sentimental price Sooyoung had in mind. Especially now that she knew the other girl was actually an asshole. She’d probably ask for something ridiculous just to piss her off.

“By the look on your face maybe it’s better if we stick with the first option huh?” Sooyoung said, winking at the blonde. 

Jinsoul gritted her teeth and clenched her fists so tightly her nails dug deep into her palms. She had never met someone like Sooyoung in her life. She knew people could be terrible but this was on a whole other level. 

Sooyoung simply nodded and stretched her limbs out with a small groan. The pop of her shoulders made her sigh happily. 

“All this talking really has me thirsty. Why don’t you be a good dog and fetch me something to drink. I like fruity flavors the most,” Sooyoung said, eyeing Jinsoul’s angry face. The blonde looked close to popping a vein and it simply made her feel more excited. She hadn’t had this much fun with someone in ages. 

“What? Where do you expect me to get you something to drink?” Jinsoul practically snarled. She could feel her whole body burning with anger and it was almost dizzying.

“Don’t tell me that pretty blonde head is just full of air,” Sooyoung said, with disappointment evident in her tone. 

“What the hell did you just say?” Jinsoul asked in disbelief. She had started to tremble from the anger flowing through her. 

“It’s a shame, I guess people really can’t have it all,” Sooyoung continued taunting Jinsoul. She liked ruffling people’s feathers and the blonde was quickly proving to be an easy target. “You should get going.”

“You’re a fucking bitch,” Jinsoul said. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had called someone that. She really didn’t know if this was even worth it. Maybe she should just give up and ask for help with money. The thought of burdening her parents or worse her friends made her heart sink. 

Sooyoung smiled unfazed by the insult, she had heard worse before. The roughness of her cut had mostly faded. She had been taking all proper precautions to keep it from permanently scarring over the week. Looking Jinsoul over she wondered what it would take to break the girl. It didn’t seem like much, and she would have to be careful not to do it too soon. 

“Thanks!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jinsoul moaned into the walk-in cooler that held all the drinks. She stuck her forehead against one of the energy cans and let the cold aluminum clear her mind. From across the aisle the young girl at the cash register looked up from her phone. She frowned before shaking her head and looking back down. They didn’t pay her enough to handle weirdos like that. 

Opening her eyes she pouted at the can, as soon as she had gotten far enough from Sooyoung her hunger had come back with force. Placing her hand against her tummy she gently rubbed it in thought. Sooyoung hadn’t given her any money to pay for her own drink. Instead she had just stared blankly at her until she awkwardly left. 

Sighing, Jinsoul pulled the first bottle that looked like it had fruit and let the door close with a rattle. Walking over to one of the shelves she picked up a tuna mayo triangle kimbap. She licked her lips at the thought of getting to eat something and quickly headed for the register. The cashier was quick to bag her items and she took off once more up the hill. 

She pathetically devoured the kimbap within seconds of unwrapping it. A small pit of regret lodged itself in her tummy at not having bought more than one. She should’ve just eaten an actual meal, to hell with Sooyoung and her stupid drink. It took all her mental willpower to not go back and return it. Taking a glance behind her at the convenience store she shook her head. She would rather die than have to walk up the hill all over again. Plus it’s not like she could just leave, Sooyoung had kept her phone captive. It made her wonder if this was something that the taller girl had experience in. 

Making it back to the track much quicker than the first time, she spotted Sooyoung still lounging on the bleachers. The majority of the team had started running in a tight pack around the lanes, only a handful breaking through to lead by a short distance. It forced Jinsoul to stick close to the edge of the rails that lined the bleachers so she wouldn’t be in the way. Sooyoung’s focus never left the runners until Jinsoul had come to a stop an arms length away. 

“Here’s your stupid drink,” Jinsoul grunted shoving the bottle at the other girl. 

Sooyoung reached for it only to stop midway, she cocked her head to the side and curiously stared at Jinsoul. It made the blonde frown as she pushed the bottle closer to stop the sudden attention. She knew she probably looked horrible, she felt disgustingly hot and her hair had frizzed by being outside so long. 

“Hello? Do you have a staring problem or something weirdo,” Jinsoul said, finally giving up on handing the bottle over. She bent over to place it next to Sooyoung who she ignored since she only continued to stare. 

Before Jinsoul could pull away, Sooyoung wrapped her warm hand around her pale forearm. It brought the blonde to a complete stop and she looked down at Sooyoung's tan fingers. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” Jinsoul squeaked angrily. 

“It looks like you ate something. Who said you could do that? No wonder you took so long,” Sooyoung lightly chastised her, bringing her free hand to pluck at Jinsoul’s cheek. She pulled back a grain of rice and flicked it out towards the track. 

Jinsoul’s eyes widened and she quickly slapped her palm to her cheek. She could feel heat crawl up the back of her neck and she yanked her arm away from Sooyoung's loose grip.

“Stop being an asshole. I didn’t get to have any food because of you,” Jinsoul mumbled, rubbing her cheek and blushing furiously. 

It was Sooyoung’s turn to ignore the blonde as she examined the drink she had purchased. It wasn’t a flavor she particularly liked. But it would have to do, snapping the top open she gave it a swig. 

“Stand right over there,” Sooyoung ordered, once she wiped the back of her lips with her hand. She had flung her thumb behind her to point at the step above her. 

Jinsoul followed her finger to the spot and she scowled. Stepping up onto the bench she took her position. When she realized what the weird request was accomplishing she scoffed. 

Sooyoung took another sip, now more relaxed since she had shade. 

“You have got to be kidding me,” Jinsoul said, placing her hand over her brows to lessen the glare reflecting from the steel benches and rails. 

“Don't worry you won’t have to stay there that long. Practice is almost over,” Sooyoung said, patting her burning scalp. She really hated having to sit around for the team to finish. She was one of the fastest and usually waited for everyone else with the coach. 

“When are you going to give me my phone back?” Jinsoul asked, moving her weight from one foot to the other impatiently. She really wanted to go home already. She discreetly eyed the way it was still slipped inside of the other girl's shorts. 

Sooyoung turned to look up at her and smiled sweetly. “You sound ready to leave.” 

It was creepy to see the taller girl look so pretty while being an absolute asshole. She wanted to tell the world about how Ha Sooyoung was an evil girl. Her fingers twitched to send a message to her group chat. That’s the first thing she would do once she got her phone back, she decided. 

“I am. My head hurts, I’m sweaty and hungry,” Jinsoul complained involuntarily puffing her cheeks in a pout. Sooyoung held back a chuckle. Seeing the blonde whine like that made her remember that she was actually sorta cute and had a great body. Her eyes ran up Jinsoul’s frame for the second time that day, it was a shame that she was in such baggy clothes. 

Sooyoung sighed and jumped to her feet slapping the cap back on the bottle, “alright, we can go then.” She stretched once more and Jinsoul watched the way her muscles rippled across her back with the movement.

“We? Where are we going?” Jinsoul questioned breaking out of her daze. She glared at the back of Sooyoung's head waiting for an answer. 

“Showers, duh.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sooyoung led Jinsoul all the way back to the gym where the girls locker room could be found. She never needed to look back to make sure the blonde was following along because she could hear the way she loudly dragged her feet. It was a little irritating but she decided to hold her tongue. The thought of a cool shower and fresh clothes were more important than getting a rise out of the blonde, at least for the moment. Their day together wasn’t anywhere near being over. 

Reaching the main entrance to the locker room Sooyoung pulled the heavy navy door open. Keeping it propped with her elbow she waited for Jinsoul to reach her. The blonde dragged her feet even harder as she inched closer. Her heart was racing and she wasn’t exactly sure what Sooyoung wanted from her. 

“Are you slow in everything you do?” Sooyoung questioned, pushing the door further back until it hit the stopper on the other side. She watched Jinsoul scowl at her in response. “Hurry up, my arm is getting tired.” That wasn’t a lie, before practice she had done her own workout. She knew she couldn’t allow herself to lose any muscle if she wanted to be fit for track meets. 

Jinsoul rolled her eyes and quickened her pace to pass Sooyoung. She had never been in the school locker room before. There was never a reason to be in it. If she had ever needed to change she usually just did it in the restroom in one of the stalls. Plus, the science building was practically on the opposite end of the gym. As soon as Jinsoul stepped in, the smell of different perfumes attacked her nose all at once. It was flowery and fruity and she could even mildly taste it in the humid air. 

Sooyoung let the door close with a slam and she walked by Jinsoul who stood frozen in her spot. “Come on,” Sooyoung threw over her shoulder as she walked around the small corner that led to walls full of red lockers. There were a few that had names and even what Jinsoul suspected were jersey numbers. Most of them were simply identified by the different colored locks that kept them closed. Sooyoung made a beeline for the locker with a cute bear shaped lock. She fiddled with the pad for a couple of seconds before pulling it open. Jinsoul blinked a couple of times, surprised at the soft looking lock. It didn’t match the rude person she had come to know. 

“Is that really yours?” Jinsoul accidentally questioned out loud. Her eyes went wide and she covered her mouth with a wince. She had a bad habit of just speaking her mind. 

Sooyoung stopped rummaging through her belongings to look over at Jinsoul. She then turned back to the lock that was still hanging on the door. She had completely forgotten that she owned that. Jungeun had given it to her as a present one day. A sly smile on her face as she shoved it into her hands. It was cute and easy to point out. “Yeah. Got a problem?” 

Jinsoul made a small noise in the back of her throat and shook her head. 

Sooyoung removed her yellow towel, a pile of clean clothes, and flip flops from her locker. She quickly sat down on the small wooden bench in the middle of the room. Jinsoul watched as she slid off her shoes and socks and tucked them back into a gym bag she had taken out. Once everything was secure she threw her bag back in and closed it. 

“Here,” Sooyoung said, holding her towel and clothes out to Jinsoul. The blonde scrunched up her eyebrows and took a couple of steps to grab them. “Showers are this way.” 

Jinsoul dumbly followed Sooyoung further into the locker room. The air got thicker and she noticed they weren’t the only ones in there. The sound of running water and even quiet singing could be heard. When Sooyoung stopped at one of the small shower stalls she turned to look at the blonde blankly. Jinsoul’s eyes traveled from the taller girl to the open curtain and back. 

“Why am I holding your things?” Jinsoul asked, she felt her baby hairs begin to stick to her forehead. 

“Isn’t it obvious?” Sooyoung retorted, pulling the blonde’s phone from her shorts and placing it on her pile of clothes in the other girls hands. The screen lit up and Jinsoul stared down at it, she had over fifty messages. Most of them were from the group chat. “You’re going to stand there and hold my things. When I’m done you’ll hand me my stuff. Simple, right?” She was smiling sweetly again as she crossed her arms over her chest. 

“Huh?” Jinsoul blurted. 

Sooyoung rolled her eyes for what felt like the millionth time that day, “it’s really not that hard Jinsoul. I can break it down for you if you actually need it. But I’d rather not,” she said, her arms uncrossing and her fingers gripping at the band of her shorts. 

Jinsoul’s eyes followed the movement and it took her a second to realize what the other girl was doing. Sooyoung had started to lower her shorts and underwear in one swift motion. Jinsoul barely saw a glimpse of hair before she whirled around. Her face had gone bright red and her ears were on fire. 

“SOOYOUNG!” Jinsoul screeched, closing her eyes just in case. She wouldn’t put it past the taller girl to do something dumb just to make her more embarrassed.

“What’s up with you?” Sooyoung asked, pulling on her damp sports bra next. 

“What do you mean what’s up with me!? Why are you getting naked in front of me?” Jinsoul frantically blabbered, holding the clothes and towel tighter to her overheating body. 

“This is normal, I do this all the time. I know you’re not on a sports team but don’t you go to the gym at least?” Sooyoung asked, gathering up her dirty clothes into a neat pile. She had grown up playing sports and hitting the showers after practice was always a must. There was no shame in getting naked in the locker room. 

Truthfully, Sooyoung didn’t really need Jinsoul to hold her things. There was a small bench outside of the shower stall where she could’ve put everything down. But she thought it would be funny to make the blonde stand there. 

Jinsoul violently shook her head, she had never been a fan of bath houses or getting naked unnecessarily in front of strangers in any other situation for that matter. She hadn’t even been to a gym in years, if she wanted to do exercise she usually just went for a walk at one of the parks by her house. Or she did some sort of video in the privacy of her room. 

Sooyoung hummed grinning while fully naked and staring at the back of Jinsoul’s head. “So what? Are you one of those virgin prude girls that can’t handle a little skin?” 

Jinsoul’s eyes snapped open, her body trembled and she quickly pocketed her phone. That was the last straw, she couldn’t handle the humidity in the room or Sooyoung’s endless insults and shitty attitude. Her head hadn’t stopped pulsing annoyingly and she was still starving. She harshly threw the taller girls things to the floor. “Fuck you.” 

Jinsoul stormed out of the locker room leaving Sooyoung standing in mild shock. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. It was a shame she had wanted to keep messing with her. 

Maybe if she apologized...she chuckled at that and shook her head. 

“Yeah, right.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Sooyoung stepped out of the locker room dressed more casually in her matching white hat, top, and shoes with red track pants for a pop of color, she was surprised. Shouldering her gym bag higher up, she stared down at Jinsoul who was sitting on the floor across from the door. She was staring intently at her phone, a scowl on her face and biting her lip. Sooyoung decided to test her luck as she quietly closed the door behind her. She slowly walked over to the blonde before crouching down to come to eye level with her. 

Jinsoul looked up from her phone when she sensed another person and was met with a fresh faced Sooyoung. Her hand shot out to clutch at her chest and she squeezed her eyes shut. 

“What’s got you so distracted?” Sooyoung asked, taking a peek at the blonde's phone. She had been scrolling through a menu, it made Sooyoung laugh. 

“Stop it.” Jinsoul commanded, impulsively pushing Sooyoung away. The force caused the taller girl to tumble back and she landed on her butt. The hallway fell silent as Sooyoung stared at Jinsoul with a blank expression again. It caused shivers to break out across her back. After a tense second Sooyoung chuckled and reached for Jinsoul’s phone. Snatching it from her hand easily, she placed it in her pocket and tapped it lightly. 

“I’m pretty hungry too. We should eat something since you’ve been crying so much about it,” Sooyoung said, slowly standing up. Jinsoul watched her confused. 

“What makes you think I want to eat with you. Especially with how you’ve been treating me,” Jinsoul glared at the taller girl. 

“Well, why didn’t you leave when you had the chance earlier?” Sooyoung tilted her head to the side. She had no clue why Jinsoul would have stuck around if she was so mad at her. Either way it gave her the chance to continue her game and for that she was grateful.

Jinsoul opened her mouth like she wanted to say something but then decided to shut it. She wasn’t sure why she had stayed. Maybe she thought she could get a good punch in with no one around to stop them. But, whatever resolve she had for a loosely structured plan had melted away when she saw the other girl. She looked innocent and not like the bully she had been acting like all day.

Sooyoung grinned and stretched her hands out for Jinsoul to take. “Come on, I got a place in mind.” 

“I’m not going to pay for you,” Jinsoul quickly said, staring at Sooyoung’s open palms. 

The taller girl laughed harder and she bent down to grab at the blonde's arms. “That’s fine, don’t worry. I actually wasn’t going to ask you to.” 

“Is there something wrong with you? Did you slip in the shower? Why are you suddenly being nice?” Jinsoul narrowed her eyes as Sooyoung pulled her up. They were inches away from each other and she could almost count Sooyoung’s lashes. 

“I figured since you did well enough today you deserved a treat,” Sooyoung smiled her picture day smile. 

Jinsoul scoffed and looked away, she really almost fell for that. 

“If you keep talking to me like I’m a fucking dog I’m going to actually punch you,” Jinsoul gritted. 

Sooyoung smirked, “you get worked up too easily.” 

“You’re making it really hard for me not to punch you right now,” Jinsoul breathed, trying to calm herself down. 

“It’s cute,” Sooyoung said, watching as Jinsoul’s mouth dropped open. The blonde's cheeks started to flush pink and she looked away. 

“What’s wrong with you weirdo,” Jinsoul mumbled, stepping back to gain more personal space. 

“Since you’re not paying, the least you can do is hold my bag,” Sooyoung ignored her comment and shifted her gym bag off her shoulder. She immediately placed it on the blonde's shoulder and she stumbled to the side with the new weight. Sooyoung caught her before she could fall over. 

“What the fuck do you have in here? Bricks?” Jinsoul yelped and pulled the strap further up her shoulder. 

“You have quite the mouth on you, it’s surprising,” Sooyoung smiled. 

“Most people don’t get me to my breaking point so quickly,” Jinsoul grunted, trying to even the weight out so she could walk properly. 

“That’s good, it means I’ll have a special place in your heart,” Sooyoung said and began to walk towards the exit. 

Jinsoul brought her hand to her lips to try to stop a gag behind Sooyoung’s back. 

“Don’t get your hopes up.”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hi everyone! It’s been a hot minute but I’m back. This month has felt like the longest and craziest one so far in this nightmare of a year lol. I hope everyone is doing well and that you’re all healthy. 

As always if you enjoyed this chapter please leave a comment or kudo! I appreciate any kind of feedback. 

This chapter is setting the mood for what’s to come! Their dynamic is going to be full of a lot of bickering/teasing. Spoiler Alert* Jinsoul’s ex will come into play in the next chapter! I hope you all can look forward to it!


	5. Like You

Jinsoul grunted as she slipped her fingers underneath the strap of Sooyoung’s gym bag to relieve some pressure. They were standing outside of a popular chicken and beer spot near their campus named The Frypan. The blonde had never been but she had heard only good things about it from other students. She stared at the large red neon frying pan with a chicken head in the middle for a second before looking over at Sooyoung who was busy. The taller girl was smirking while sending out a text, it only served to remind her that her phone was still being held captive. 

“Are we going in or you’re just going to have us stand here like idiots?” Jinsoul angrily whined, wanting to snatch Sooyoung’s phone from her hands like she had done earlier. She was tired and hungry, plus the taller girls gym bag wasn’t getting any lighter. 

“Alright, alright. Don’t get your panties in a bunch, blondie,” Sooyoung waved Jinsoul off, pocketing her phone and looking her over from head to toe. She purposely halted at the blonde’s hips with narrowed eyes as if she could see the cause of her irritable mood. She couldn’t help that girls hit up her phone constantly. She was sacrificing potential hookups just to mess with the blonde. 

“Fuck off!” Jinsoul’s nostrils flared as she quickly shot her leg out to kick Sooyoung unsuccessfully. The taller girl laughed as she took a step back from the danger, her reflexes finally working. Hyunjin would have been proud if she was around to see her dodge that. Except, maybe, the redhead would have kicked back. 

“You’re going to cause a scene,” Sooyoung continued to laugh at the death glare she was being sent. They were already being stared at by the customers closest to the large windows. They didn’t need strangers to stop and watch them on the street either. 

“Good! Everyone should know what a big jerk you are!” Jinsoul hushed out even though what she really wanted to do was scream it from the nearest rooftop. “I honestly can't wrap my head around how you’re even so popular.” Were all beautiful people as rotten as the taller girl? 

Sooyoung laughed louder, throwing her head back in the process. No one had ever had the guts to tell her anything like that before. Most people flocked to her side and tried their hardest to get to know her. Even when she was a complete and total bitch they kept it in for the sake of appearances. She could get away with anything she wanted because everyone was always too intimidated by her. She was popular because she was hot and an athlete, it was pretty simple. Composing herself she looked Jinsoul over again. The blonde was glaring at her as she gripped the strap of her bag with both hands by her shoulder. Sooyoung took a step forward, invading her personal space to slowly reach out for her waist. 

Jinsoul’s brows knitted harder as she pulled her face back from Sooyoung’s proximity. She looked down to watch the way the girls tan fingers wrapped around the strap by her hip. The small tug made her sway to the right. “I’m extremely hot, didn't you notice?” Sooyoung spoke low and raspy as she tugged again. It was something that would've had anybody else stumbling to their knees but Jinsoul just narrowed her eyes. 

“That doesn't give you an excuse to act like that,” Jinsoul said, throwing the strap off her body and allowing it to fall to the floor with a thud. The movement caused Sooyoung’s hand to jolt forward and she struggled to lift the bag back up. When she came face to face with the blonde, a small smile started creeping up the corner of her lips. 

“That sounds like you think I’m hot” Sooyoung stood up straighter, her natural charm oozing out of her as she stared deeply into Jinsoul’s brown eyes. The blonde scoffed and shook her head, she couldn't believe that was all the taller girl had heard. 

It's not like Jinsoul couldn't tell that Sooyoung was an attractive girl, above average really, but she would hate to add to her ego in any way. “You’re making me lose my appetite.” 

“You’re going to hurt my feelings,” Sooyoung said, fluttering her lashes at Jinsoul. She jutted her lip out and pouted at the blonde. 

“I don’t think that’s possible,” Jinsoul sighed, moving past Sooyoung. She opened the door to the restaurant and didn’t wait for the taller girl to follow. The door chimed loudly when Sooyoung entered a beat after. Without checking with the blonde she quickly made her way over to an available table in the corner. Sooyoung took the seat facing the wall and shoved her bag on the chair next to her. Jinsoul clenched her jaw before heading over, the waiter who had noticed them followed close behind looking between them. 

Jinsoul took the available seat across from Sooyoung and slumped down into the chair, dreading the moment the taller girl would open her mouth again. The waiter greeted them and placed two menus in front of them before taking off to retrieve a jug of water and two cups. 

“You're starving right?” Sooyoung broke the silence, flipping the menu over. There wasn’t a huge variety but there didn’t need to be. Everyone came for the cheap alcohol and delicious fried chicken. 

Jinsoul grunted in response, Sooyoung was tiny and she expected the girl to eat like a hamster. If she was in charge of ordering maybe they wouldn’t have enough food. Her leg bounced with worry as she searched the menu for something that would be filling. 

“Okay well we can get this platter then, it has all three of the best flavors. Plus we can order the cheesy potato wedges as a side, it should be enough right?” Sooyoung mumbled the last bit to herself as she looked over the beer section. It had been a couple of weeks since the last time she was able to have a beer. When the waiter came back she was quick to place the order, not sparing a glance at the blonde. Jinsoul listened to her with slight surprise as she ordered two grapefruit flavored beers. 

“I didn’t ask for that,” Jinsoul quietly said as she watched the waiter walk away. Sooyoung was pouring herself a glass of water. “Who even said it was for you?”

Jinsoul glared at her when the waiter came back with the beers and a bowl of puffed corn. He set one glass in front of Sooyoung before putting the other by her. The bowl was left in the middle of the table as he took off again. 

Sooyoung leaned back as she sighed, she had picked up the straw placed by her drink and was playing with the wrapper absentmindedly. It was more awkward than she had been expecting it to be. Jinsoul seemed to have caught onto her little games and was keeping her guard up. Sooyoung would have to step up her tactics to get better reactions from the blonde. 

Jinsoul slid the beer forward for Sooyoung to take but was almost immediately rejected. “You said this was yours,” Jinsoul pushed forward again, the liquid sloshing in the glass, the foam threatened to roll over the brim. Sooyoung stopped the glass with a single finger. “I obviously lied, this is for you,” she tried to push it back. “Okay, but I don’t want it,” Jinsoul pushed harder, annoyed at the other girls' antics. If this was how she was going to behave the rest of their dinner, maybe she should just find a way to leave. “Why?” Sooyoung added another finger for backup. They looked like kids arguing over something silly like who was next on the swing at the playground. “I’m not good with my alcohol Sooyoung. Unless you want to carry me all the way back home?” Jinsoul huffed, giving up and crossing her arms over her chest. 

Sooyoung grinned at the small victory, she couldn't help but be a bit competitive in everything she did. Having to carry the blonde home didn’t sound absolutely horrible, it wouldn’t be her first time doing something like that. Jungeun couldn’t hold her alcohol very well either, and along with Hyunjin she was usually tasked with getting the shorter girl back to the dorms. “Hey, I could if I really wanted to. I am pretty strong, here you can even have a feel if you don’t believe me. But be careful you might want more,” she winked and offered her flexed right arm to the blonde. Jinsoul scrunched her face up in disgust and shook her head. “Do you talk like this to everyone? Or do you just specifically like grossing me out?” 

Sooyoung chuckled and brought the glass to her lips to take a sip as she thought of her next words carefully. “Only pretty girls get this special treatment,” she hummed happily, the beer was nice and cold, there were even small grapefruit slices at the bottom to add a natural flavor. Jinsoul involuntarily let out what sounded like a screech and tried to cover her mouth to muffle the noise. It was ear-piercing and Sooyoung brought her free hand up to try to save her hearing with an exaggerated wince. “Look!” Jinsoul continued to laugh as she brought her arm up for Sooyoung to examine. “That was so bad it gave me goosebumps,” she said rubbing the small bumps across her pale skin. Sooyoung frowned, she thought it was a pretty good line, she shooed Jinsoul’s arm away from her face playfully annoyed. “I’m serious, I don’t talk to ugly girls, it’s not my style.” 

Jinsoul was actually smiling and for a moment Sooyoung forgot that she was supposed to be making the blonde’s life a living hell. When the restaurant's chime rang once more, Jinsoul’s eyes bounced towards the door out of habit. Her smile immediately fell and her brows scrunched up in horror, just when she thought things were getting bearable between them. She slapped her hand to her forehead and looked down. 

“Oh fuck me.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sooyoung rolled her head back and groaned in disbelief, “but we literally just ordered food,” she glanced towards the kitchen to see if there was any way to get it changed to take-out. She honestly didn’t think it’d be that easy to sway the blonde her way. If a couple of flirtatious compliments were all it took, the girl across from her would have a very busy future. Jinsoul shot her head up to scrunch her brows in confusion at Sooyoung. 

“What the fuck? No you weirdo!” Jinsoul harshly whispered as she lowered her head again. She was using her hand to cover the majority of her face from view. Sooyoung lifted a perfectly sculpted brow, still unfazed by the blonde’s middle school insults. She turned back around to see what had gotten Jinsoul so upset. She noticed that a group of the university baseball players had walked in and were loudly gathering two tables to sit at all together. “Oh my God, what's wrong with you! Don’t look!” Jinsoul squeaked, slapping her hand against Sooyoung’s tan one. 

Sooyoung looked away to stare at the blonde curiously, “is there a reason why I can't look?” Jinsoul made a small noise in the back of her throat as she tried to lower herself further down the table. The blonde mumbled something that was too quiet to hear so Sooyoung leaned closer, practically standing up from her chair. “Huh? What did you say?”

“My ex,” Jinsoul mumbled a little louder, her face was red and she looked like she wanted to cry. Sooyoung frowned as she turned back around to eye the boys in their athletic department letterman jackets. They must have been the benchwarmers since she didn’t recognize any of them, she rolled her eyes. She always hated the baseball team, they were full of a bunch of cocky losers. And of course Jinsoul was some straight girl with bad taste, Sooyoung sighed, they always were. 

The waiter came over with the steaming platter of fried chicken and side of cheesy potato wedges. He gave Jinsoul a quizzical look before placing the plates down and leaving them in peace. Sooyoung picked up her fork and pierced a piece of garlic fried chicken and brought it to her lips. She blew on it lightly before stuffing it completely into her mouth. Jinsoul was still hiding but her eyes were trained on the food now. 

“Are you not going to eat?” Sooyoung questioned wiping the corner of her mouth with a napkin. She was already going for the next flavor which was her favorite, a spicy hot sauce was glazed over the chicken. “I can't, he'll see me,” Jinsoul whimpered, her stomach ached uncomfortably and she winced. She couldn’t tell if it was from hunger or nerves. 

“So? He’s just your ex, what’s the big deal?” Sooyoung brought the beer up to her lips. She could really care less if Jinsoul ate or not. She was starving enough for the both of them. But it was slightly embarrassing to have the blonde act so weird, almost hiding underneath the table. “You don’t get it! He...cheated on me. I haven’t seen him since he kicked me out of his apartment,” Jinsoul blinked back tears, her heart was thumping loudly and she really wanted to leave but she couldn’t stand the idea of him seeing her. Sooyoung looked at how pathetic the blonde seemed and sighed, she removed her hat and patted her hair down with her fingers. “Sit up and take this,” Sooyoung ordered. 

Jinsoul’s body moved on its own accord and she sat up while still staring down at the table just in case. Sooyoung harshly shoved her white hat on the blonde's head, bringing it low to her eyebrows. “There, now start eating or I’m going to finish this all on my own,” Sooyoung said, bored at how dramatic Jinsoul was. Sooyoung figured the hat wouldn't really help if her ex did notice her. Not many people had blonde hair like Jinsoul or such a sharp jaw and pale skin. 

Jinsoul reached up to touch the bill of the hat and licked her lips nervously, it was a sweet gesture. Sooyoung would be the last person she would ever expect to do something as nice as that. “Thanks,” Jinsoul quietly said, picking up her own fork to try to eat, the taller girl just nodded, it really wasn’t a big deal at all. “How long were you two dating?” Sooyoung asked, mildly interested in the blonde’s drama. 

Jinsoul frowned at the question, she was surprised that Sooyoung was even curious. “It wasn’t long, six months. But we’ve known each other for years,” Jinsoul bitterly recalled. She decided to drink some of her previously untouched beer to lessen the pain she felt in her heart. “I thought you said you weren’t going to drink?” Sooyoung smirked, sitting back in her chair to look at the angry blonde. “Shut up.” Sooyoung lightly shrugged, “so, who asked who out first?” 

“What is this? 20 Questions? Do you want to know when I had my first kiss while we’re at it?” Sooyoung chuckled and Jinsoul rolled her eyes but angrily continued, “He did, he asked me out multiple times but I always shot him down. I should’ve never said yes,” the blonde gritted, biting into a fork full of potato wedges. Sooyoung nodded, “what changed your mind about him?”

Jinsoul slowly chewed as she thought back to what had made her give him a chance. The blonde scoffed darkly as she shook her head, “he dedicated his first homerun of the season to me. It felt special and romantic I guess. I was stupid and fell for it.” Sooyoung scrunched her nose up in disgust, she hated fluffy shit like that. She preferred flings and getting straight to the point, there was no need for love. 

Jinsoul downed the rest of her beer in one go and immediately hit the red button on the table to call the waiter over. “You’re getting another?” Sooyoung asked, raising her brow at how determined the blonde seemed. “I gave that cheater everything! I was so nice and such a caring girlfriend Sooyoung!” Jinsoul ranted, it was the first time she was allowing herself to actually feel something more than complete despair. Haseul, Kahei, and Jiwoo were great at listening and consoling her, but Sooyoung brought out the anger inside of her. 

“That’s why you shouldn’t date boys,” Sooyoung cooly said with a smile on her face. She had put down her fork and was focusing on her drink. Jinsoul rolled her eyes at that and groaned, “not you too, I get it. I should date a man not a boy, yeah, yeah.” It was something her mother had told her when she broke the news to her. Jinsoul was almost sure it devastated her mother more than it did her. She had smugly gloated that they were a match made in heaven. Now it was just insanely annoying and if she had to hear it one more time, she wouldn't be at fault for what she’d do. The waiter made his way over, taking another order of two beers from Jinsoul who didn’t look up the whole time she spoke. 

“I just meant you shouldn’t date guys in general, girls are better,” Sooyoung brought the blonde’s attention back onto her once their waiter left. “Excuse me?” Jinsoul coughed trying to clear her throat. She wasn’t sure if she had heard the taller girl right. Sooyoung rested her chin on her fist and smiled, “I only fuck around with girls.” It was something that she usually put in a nicer way but she was eager to see the blonde’s response. Sooyoung knew she didn’t fit the common stereotype most people had about women who dated women. And people hardly ever believed her when she told them the truth. Jinsoul looked up for the first time from under the hat’s protection to eye the girl across from her.

After a moment of silence Jinsoul looked back down to the fried chicken in front of her with a snort, “something tells me you're not that nice to girls either.” Sooyoung laughed, throwing her head back, she really wasn’t but that didn’t stop the line she had waiting for her attention. “What are you talking about, haven’t I been sweet with you?” Sooyoung grinned, placing her hand right by Jinsoul’s across the table. Their fingers were inches from touching. The blonde chuckled before moving her hand away and onto her lap. “You’ve actually been the worst person I’ve known in the short time we’ve spent together,” Jinsoul smiled watching the way Sooyoung slapped her hand to her heart in playful shock. “You’re telling me I’m worse than that guy?” Sooyoung threw a thumb over her shoulder in the general direction of the baseball team. Jinsoul rolled her eyes and groaned angrily. Sooyoung just had to ruin whatever moment they were having by bringing him back up. “Yeah, you are,” Jinsoul almost growled out. The waiter came back with their beers and the blonde was quick to start downing the alcohol. 

“Hey, easy there. I know I told you I’d carry you home but you don’t need to drink it so fast, you’re going to throw up if you don’t pace yourself,” Sooyoung quietly said, gently reaching out and pulling the glass from Jinsoul’s grip. Sooyoung guessed she had pushed the wrong button. 

Jinsoul had chugged more than half of her beer and was snaking her hand towards Sooyoung’s glass. “We aren’t friends, you don’t have to pretend to worry about me Sooyoung. I know all you want is to either torture me with your bullshit attitude or make me pay you back in cash,” Jinsoul successfully brought the tall girl's glass to her lips with a frown. They would never be friends and as soon as her jacket was fixed she planned on never talking to the athlete again. 

Sooyoung stayed quiet as she watched the blonde chug her beer, it was only when she slammed it down empty, did she open her mouth. “You’re right, we aren’t friends and frankly I don’t think I even like you. You’re whiny and dramatic Jinsoul but if I have to carry your sloppy ass home, I’d rather you not get your disgusting throw up on me,” Sooyoung coldly said, watching the way the blonde’s head dropped lower with each word. Jinsoul’s body began to tremble and Sooyoung blinked in surprise, “are you crying?” It almost sounded frantic and she had to clear her throat to stop it. 

Jinsoul sniffed and slowly shook her head, the alcohol had finally started making her feel woozy and she couldn’t think straight anymore. All she knew was that Sooyoung truly was an evil bitch. And she couldn’t wait to get very far away from her once and for all.

Sooyoung looked around and scratched the back of her head, she usually didn’t feel bad about making girls cry or anyone for that matter. But something about the way the blonde was sniffling and shuffling around the fried chicken on her plate was making her feel kinda guilty. Sooyoung didn’t say anything as she watched Jinsoul press the red button once more to call the waiter over. 

“Another beer please.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Come on at least help me out and take a couple of steps,” Sooyoung grunted as she pulled Jinsoul out of the restaurant. The blonde was sluggishly moving forward with the help of Sooyoung’s grip. “I told you,” Jinsoul sadly muttered as her head rolled to the side and she blinked furiously, when had it gotten dark outside? She always got sleepy when she drank, “what’d you tell me?” Sooyoung angrily sighed, wrapping her hand around the blonde's waist. She was worse than Jungeun, a lot more depressing and clingy. “Don’t...let me drink,” Jinsoul groaned leaning her head against Sooyoung’s shoulder and clutching onto her like a koala. 

“You drank more than you ate,” Sooyoung said, slowly moving them out of the doorway and to the side. She had ended up paying for them both, not wanting to bother the blonde with questions about money. “I know,” Jinsoul smooshed her head further into the taller girl's shirt, she smelled faintly like a rose and it was making her eyes heavier. “Tell me where you live so I can take you home,” Sooyoung said, trying to catch the blonde’s eye. When she didn’t get a response she reached up to touch Jinsoul’s head. Her hair was soft and silky against her fingertips. “Hey?” Sooyoung whispered trying to pull the girl out of her drunken haze. She lightly shook her but nothing came out of it.

“Jung Jinsoul?” a man’s deep voice called out and Sooyoung turned around to see one of the baseball players from earlier had followed them outside. Jinsoul looked up at the familiar voice and instantly frowned. “I thought that was you,” the man said with a grin, he had big doe eyes and short black hair swept to the side. He towered over them and Sooyoung instinctively pulled Jinsoul further into her. “Is she okay? She looks drunk,” Jinsoul’s ex said, walking closer. Sooyoung narrowed her eyes as she felt the blonde grip her tighter, “she’s alright,” she replied curtly. 

Jinsoul’s ex stopped and quickly nodded to himself, “I can help take her home if you want,” he sweetly smiled at Sooyoung. She looked down at the blonde to see how her lip was trembling and her eyes had glossed over again. 

“Look buddy, I don’t even know who you are. You could be a complete and utter pervert. What makes you think I’m just going to hand over a drunk girl to you?” Sooyoung snarled out, thoroughly annoyed that she was wasting her time speaking to some benchwarmer. The blonde’s ex chuckled and rubbed his large hand against his lips, just as annoyed. 

“Lucas,” Jinsoul finally spoke, her mouth was dry and she felt like her whole body was on fire from several different emotions. Lucas nodded, grinning at Sooyoung, “see I’m not a stranger. I’ve been to her house plenty of times. I can help you.” He took another step forward and Sooyoung sighed, tired of their little interaction. She leaned down to whisper against Jinsoul’s red ear, “what do you want to do?” 

Jinsoul shut her eyes tightly as she breathed in deeply and pushed her face into Sooyoung’s neck. “I don’t want him near me,” she muttered into the taller girl's smooth skin, “I just want to go to bed.” 

Sooyoung nodded and looked back at Lucas who was watching them intently, “she doesn’t want to talk to you and neither do I, so get going before I lose my patience bean pole.” Lucas scoffed and rolled his eyes, “she’s drunk, she doesn’t know what she’s saying. I just want to talk to her for a second. Plus, who are you to get involved in our relationship huh?”

“Sooyoung make him go away,” Jinsoul quietly cried into her neck, the memories were too much for her to handle and she couldn’t hold back any longer. Sooyoung could feel the sudden stream of tears roll down her chest and it made her want to squirm. She couldn’t believe how involved she was getting in the blonde’s life. It was definitely not a part of her plan. She just wanted to have fun until she could get her hands back on her jacket. But instead she was standing in front of a frustrated talking telephone pole. 

Sooyoung clenched her jaw and glared up at Lucas, “I know you’re all the way up there and maybe you don’t have the best eyesight, but she’s with me now, got it? If you don’t leave us alone, I’ll make sure to kick you in the balls so hard you’ll be spitting them out for the next couple of days.” Lucas hesitated as he opened his mouth and then closed it several times in shock. “Yeah, exactly, so get out of my face and take your good for nothing ass back inside before I lose my shit and make you regret ever being born, okay?” 

Sooyoung flipped him off as she turned and tugged Jinsoul along with her, “let’s go,” she said loudly. The blonde stumbled but followed along, holding onto Sooyoung like she was the only thing keeping her grounded. She kept her eyes closed as she allowed the taller girl to take them anywhere she wanted. At that point she didn’t really care, she was just happy to be away from Lucas and his manipulation. She never wanted to feel the way he made her feel again. 

When Jinsoul felt her face being lightly tapped she opened her eyes groggily. She was leaning against a brown brick wall. “Oh sleeping beauty is finally back,” Sooyoung grunted as she typed in a passcode to get into the lobby of a building. She pulled Jinsoul along, allowing the blonde to rest the majority of her weight against her as she hit the button to the elevator. 

“Where are we?” Jinsoul groaned at the hash artificial light above her. She knew for sure that they weren’t at her house. For a second she figured that Sooyoung had brought her to a hotel. “You didn’t tell me where you lived, and honestly you were getting kinda heavy. So, I'm bringing you back to my dorm,” Sooyoung said, helping Jinsoul step into the elevator once it arrived. Sooyoung held onto the blonde's waist as they stood side by side and watched the doors close. “You live in the dorms?” Jinsoul groaned as she tried to wipe her eyes. 

When the elevator dinged Sooyoung walked them out towards the last room on the floor, “I’m not from Seoul,” she said quietly as she entered the passcode to her door. Jinsoul nodded as she was led inside. It was a one bedroom dorm and Sooyoung put down slippers for Jinsoul to use. “That must get lonely,” Jinsoul mumbled as she used Sooyoung to keep from falling over. The taller girl just shrugged, “I manage,” she said, not bothering to use slippers. Jinsoul tried her best to glance around but it just made her dizzy. From what she could make out it seemed really clean. 

Sooyoung led her to the made bed with a grey quilt and sat her down before taking a seat next to her. It was odd, she never brought home anyone she wasn’t actually planning to sleep with. 

“Thank you for...helping me back there. And for this,” Jinsoul softly said, avoiding looking over at the taller girl. Sooyoung’s choice of an excuse was replaying in her mind and she couldn’t hide her frown, “you kinda made it sound like we were dating, you know? What if he says something to other people?” 

Sooyoung looked over at her before scoffing, “I had to come up with something to make him back off. Guys aren’t as persistent if they think you’re taken. Plus you should've seen the look on his face, it was priceless.” She grinned at the memory, there was hardly anything better than making a grown man question his whole relationship with someone. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to do anything to you if that’s what you’re worried about,” Sooyoung said, wiggling her fingers teasingly at Jinsoul before rolling her eyes and standing up. “Even if he talked no one would believe him. Do you know how many girls my name gets attached to? A lot of them are just rumors that people like to make up out of boredom.” Jinsoul knitted her brows in worry but nodded anyways. 

“I’m going to change and get ready for bed, you can make yourself at home, just don’t go through any of my shit or I’ll kick you out,” Sooyoung sternly said, while opening her closet door and picking up some pajamas. She took out another set and placed them on the foot of the bed before making her way to the bathroom. 

“Sooyoung!” Jinsoul called out as she watched the taller girl pop her head out of the hallway to look at her questioningly. 

“You’re not worse than him,” Jinsoul breathed, she didn’t know why but she suddenly felt extremely nervous and embarrassed. It was enough to completely sober her up. 

Sooyoung stared at her for a long and tense second. She wasn't so sure about that but hopefully the blonde would never have to find that out the hard way. 

“I know.” 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hey y’all! 

Honestly this chapter was kinda hard to write lol. But hopefully you’re still able to somewhat enjoy it! Things will just continue to get spicier as we move along! Also I’m trying out a new schedule that I already sorta messed up lol…but basically I plan to upload my stories every week by the weekend. I’ll be going off an (A, B, A, B) system! So please look forward to that if you happen to read both stories!

If you enjoyed this, as always please consider leaving a comment or a kudo! I enjoy reading what y’all got to say and appreciate any kind of feedback! Stay safe and health


	6. Lucky

Jinsoul snuggled closer to the warm body in her bed. It felt right and she hadn’t realized just how much she truly missed it. Her hand instinctively slipped under the shirt of the person she was holding. Her short fingernails lightly scratched at the soft skin available to her. The muscles tensed and relaxed underneath her palm with each swipe. She pushed her face closer until hair that faintly smelled like honey was tickling her nose. That was odd, Jinsoul didn’t remember it being that long or smelling that nice. She was used to the sharp scent of mint and pine that always made her scrunch up her nose in displeasure. Furrowing her brows but keeping her eyes shut she tried to move the silky hair away with her chin. When it was out of her face she pressed her lips to the nape of the person's neck. Jinsoul felt their body shudder in her arms and she smiled into the warm skin, squeezing a little tighter. She always loved leaving hickies, a possessive trait she wasn’t completely ashamed of, so she pecked at the skin again and again. She prepared her lips with a quick lick, eager to suck and bite on the tender flesh below her. Meanwhile her hand continued south as it slowly trailed past the person’s belly button. Even in her sleepy haze she had a one track mind. She only stopped when she reached what she was looking for. Her fingers clumsily bunched up the fabric of the loose shorts under her palm. 

Jinsoul instantly knew something was wrong when what usually was there...wasn’t. She released the fabric only to give it an unnecessarily hard pat, it was completely flat. Her stomach sank when a quiet yet clearly feminine groan escaped the body she was holding onto. 

Jinsoul’s eyes snapped open and she rapidly blinked them, adjusting to the dim light of sun breaking through the room's blinds. Her eyes widened as she became aware of what she was touching and who she had been cuddling. She quickly pulled her hand back to her chest like she had been burned. It took a couple of seconds for her brain to catch up because it was so early in the morning but when it did, it was explosive. Jinsoul screamed like that one time she had seen a mouse run by her feet in the subway, embarrassingly high pitched. She shoved the sleeping girl away and it was enough to send her tumbling over the edge to the floor with a loud thud. 

Jinsoul stared at the now empty space before slowly remembering exactly where she was. This wasn’t her room or bed. She had been drunk the night before and...feeling her stomach drop impossibly lower, she peeked over the edge at Sooyoung. 

Sooyoung was wincing in pain and her quilt was spread out underneath her. It was almost impressive to Jinsoul that the taller girl hadn’t made a single sound. If she wasn’t so struck with fear of retaliation she probably would’ve clapped for her. 

“S-sooyoung?” Jinsoul squeaked after the girl had yet to move around. She hesitantly reached out to poke her arm, accepting the possibility that she’d lose it to the angry athlete. 

As soon as her pale finger met tan skin, Sooyoung’s eyes shot open and she roughly grabbed the blonde’s wrist. Jinsoul tried to yank her arm back with a whimper but it was securely captured, keeping her in place. Her mind raced with all the different ways the taller girl could think to hurt her. She really wished Sooyoung had just tossed her in the first cheap motel she came across instead of taking her home like some charity case. 

Sooyoung’s eyes were darker than usual and it was almost feral. She stared at the blonde silently before blinking away some of her hostile energy. She loosened her grip to allow Jinsoul to slip out of her grasp a second later. The shock of the fall had rattled her and for a solid moment she forgot the blonde was even in her room. 

Jinsoul scooted herself back in bed as she watched Sooyoung slowly sit up. The taller girl looked out of it and it made her feel slightly guilty for pushing her. 

“A-are you okay?” Jinsoul gulped. She couldn’t hide her concern for her own safety. It curved into the deep lines of her furrowed brows. After all Sooyoung could just be playing dumb and waiting to pounce when she least expected it. 

Jinsoul desperately tried to remember where Sooyoung had placed her clothes the previous night. Had she thrown them into the wash to clean them? Or were they balled up somewhere in a corner collecting dust. She also wouldn’t have put it past Sooyoung to have dumped them in the trash can like the monster she was. Either way, if push came to shove, she would gladly run out in her borrowed pajamas. She knew she wouldn’t get very far especially since she had never been in the dorms before. Or could even recall the layout of the floor they were on for that matter. But she figured she shouldn’t make life too easy for the taller girl.

After a tense beat Sooyoung brought her hand up to the back of her neck. She rubbed it lightly while looking over at the blonde who was watching her every move for any sign of danger. 

“Before you pushed me off my own bed, did you kiss me?” Sooyoung’s voice was raspy with disturbed sleep and something else Jinsoul couldn’t quite decipher. 

“W-what?! Why would I do that!” Jinsoul flinched and stumbled over her words as she looked away from Sooyoung’s piercing stare. She could feel her whole face begin to turn a painful shade of red. 

“I don’t know, you tell me barbie,” Sooyoung said, watching the way the blonde’s leg started to bounce out of nerves. Even though her head was still pounding from the fall she happily latched onto any given opportunity to make Jinsoul squirm. 

“I didn’t!” Jinsoul gritted, doing the only thing she could think of to end their conversation. She flipped away from Sooyoung and laid back down to curl into herself for warmth. She would have never been awake this early if it was up to her. If she had just been in bed by herself, this would’ve never happened. Hell, if Sooyoung had just left her on the floor to begin with that would’ve been better. She wouldn't have to be dealing with a sudden embarrassing burst of arousal. 

Jinsoul listened to the silence between them that seemed to go on and on. It was extremely eerie and her shoulders visibly twitched when she finally heard Sooyoung stand up. The sound of the floor groaning underneath her weight was deafening in the otherwise quiet room. She wondered what Sooyoung could be thinking about and highly doubted that the taller girl would give up so easily on her line of questioning. 

Jinsoul stared at the white wall in front of her as she anxiously gnawed on her lip. When she felt a dip in the bed she closed her eyes to pretend to be asleep. If Sooyoung was even a tiny bit smart she would take that as her cue to leave her alone. 

Instead, Sooyoung reached out to blonde hair, pushing it back so she could see Jinsoul’s perfectly pale neck. The blonde held back the gasp that threatened to escape her mouth. Goosebumps broke out across her forearms and she squeezed her eyes tighter. Sooyoung leaned forward and hovered her lips over Jinsoul’s brightly burning ear. 

“If you’re going to kiss someone, you should do it properly. I don’t like being teased,” Sooyoung breathed hotly against the shell of Jinsoul’s ear. It felt good and she wanted to cry at how pathetic that made her. It was exactly what the taller girl wanted and she was playing into it by getting hot and bothered. She had to come up with a way to defend herself against an overconfident snob and quickly. 

Sooyoung grinned and pinched the same spot Jinsoul had kissed on her with her thumb and index finger. The blonde yelped and shot up to twist around and face her. Jinsoul pushed herself against the protection of the wall and scowled at the athlete. She mimicked Sooyoung from moments ago and rubbed her neck. She really hated how much the taller girl seemed to vibrate with joy at seeing her upset. 

Sooyoung was looking at her with an overtly sweet smile as she pushed closer until their knees were almost touching. It felt strangely intimate and like an obvious trap that Jinsoul would end up falling into even with all the glaring neon signs. 

“If I knew just how touchy you were, I would’ve made you sleep at the foot of the bed where you belong. Unfortunately, I thought you’d be a good dog and know your place after everything that happened yesterday,” Sooyoung exaggeratedly sighed. She slowly reached out, and put her hands on Jinsoul’s thighs while smugly staring into her eyes. It was almost like she was begging the blonde for a fight.

Jinsoul looked down at the tan hands on her body dumbfounded for a second. But it quickly became clear that Sooyoung was just trying to get a rise out of her. When she looked back up she was mildly surprised to be met with Sooyoung’s dark and hungry gaze. It was like a short circuit to her system and anything she wanted to say to the athlete for calling her a dog again was completely forgotten. In the back of her mind she barely registered that this must’ve been the Sooyoung everyone gushed about. 

“Just who did you think was in bed with you?” Sooyoung quietly asked, tilting her head to the side and sliding her hands up. Jinsoul’s eyes fell back down to her thighs. She watched the incredibly slow way Sooyoung inched forward. Something about it made her heart pound loudly in her ears and she cursed herself for tingling with desire for more. She looked back up to see the athlete staring at her, waiting for an answer. 

“I…” Jinsoul breathed, her hands coming down over Sooyoung’s. She wasn’t necessarily trying to stop the taller girl and that’s how she knew she was losing their game. 

“Was it him?” Sooyoung asked, moving up again. Jinsoul moved with her, her eyes darting down to watch their hands with curiosity. Just how far would the other girl take it if she let her. “Did you think I was Lu-“

“Yes,” Jinsoul sternly cut off, her fingernails digging into Sooyoung’s hands. She didn’t want to hear his name. Especially not after last night, everything still felt too raw.

“It hurts my pride to know that a girl in my bed was thinking about a guy while with me,” Sooyoung smiled, not minding the sting of the blondes fingernails and traveling up to her waist. 

“It wasn’t on purpose,” Jinsoul blinked stupidly before scrunching her brows up at her own answer. She didn’t owe Sooyoung anything, but the word vomit continued, “I was just dreaming, it’s not like I wanted to think about him.”

The smile dropped from Sooyoung’s face as she lightly tugged on Jinsoul’s waist. 

“You may have been dreaming but that kiss was real, that shove was real. And you hurt my feelings. So, how do you plan to make up for that?” Sooyoung quietly asked, tugging again. Jinsoul scowled as she steadied herself against the other girl's arms. 

“What do you want?” Jinsoul skeptically questioned. She knew no matter what the answer was she wouldn’t be happy with it. Because Sooyoung wasn’t actually hurt, she probably didn’t even have feelings to begin with. Sooyoung just wanted to see how far she could push her until she shattered.

Sooyoung smirked, “I want you to do it properly.” 

Jinsoul blushed a bright red again as she narrowed her eyes at the other girl. She harshly pushed Sooyoung away who was already chuckling at her shy reaction. 

“You’re absurdly idiotic. I can’t believe you can possibly be at this level so early in the morning.” Jinsoul grunted, pushing Sooyoung again and watching her fall over onto her pillow. 

“It’s not my fault, you’re the one that was all over me during the night. I could hardly move,” Sooyoung sighed as she rested her hands on her stomach, pleased with herself for easily getting under Jinsoul’s skin. 

“I wasn’t all over you,” Jinsoul muttered bitterly as she crossed her arms over her chest. She’d give anything to be able to kick the other girl off the bed again without being beaten for it.

“You really were, it was kind of suffocating,” Sooyoung began to scratch at her own stomach in deep thought. She hadn’t had her fill in seeing the way Jinsoul blushed and stumbled over her words like a fool. She badly wanted more, even if that meant throwing some low blows.

Jinsoul tensed up when a vicious grin broke out across Sooyoung’s face. 

“Who would’ve guessed that our prude princess was into that kind of morning call,” Sooyoung taunted, eyeing the blonde.

“I wonder what other dirty little secrets you’re hiding. Maybe you really do like being my pet.” Sooyoung practically sneered at her. 

“Do your loser group of friends know you’re like that? I bet they’d find it really interesting.” She hummed, delighted at the different emotions she saw cross the blondes face. She had no real intentions of telling anyone else anything but it was fun to see Jinsoul panic. It gave her a delicious high she didn’t know she was missing. 

Jinsoul’s body began to tremble with pure anger and embarrassment but something kept her rooted in her spot on the bed. Maybe it was the idea of not giving Sooyoung the satisfaction of watching her storm out. Or maybe she was just experiencing whiplash from the insane way her teasing could change intensity in a matter of seconds. In the end, all she could think about was how she could kill Sooyoung right about now

“If I do it, will you promise to never talk about this again?” Jinsoul hissed. She really didn’t think she could handle having to listen to the athlete bully her about it for however much longer it took to fix her letterman. 

Sooyoung sat up, surprised. 

“What?” Sooyoung chuckled, sure she had heard wrong. 

“If I kiss your stupid neck like you wanted. Will you shut the fuck about this and never bring it up again?” Jinsoul snarled. She would rather have this moment be between them then the potential of having Sooyoung go around school talking about it. She had a pristine reputation that she was in no way willing to scandalize in the last year of her academic career. 

Sooyoung stared at her for a second before she shook her head with a grimace.

“No thanks, I rather not,” Sooyoung waved away, turning her back to Jinsoul. Her feet were now touching the floor and she was about to lean down to grab her quilt. She’d have to make sure to wash everything all over again today. She was a neat freak like that. 

Jinsoul stopped her with a firm hand to her shoulder. 

“What? What do you mean no? You literally asked me minutes ago. Why are you changing your mind now?” Jinsoul huffed, slightly offended that Sooyoung would be against receiving a kiss from her. Especially when she had just been running her hands up and down her thighs, it just didn’t make sense.

“Because now you want to, duh,” Sooyoung smirked, blowing a raspberry at the blonde over her shoulder. She was childish and it would’ve surprised Jinsoul if she hadn't already grown accustomed to it in the short period they knew each other.

“I’m serious Sooyoung!” Jinsoul pulled the girl back, effectively laying half of her down on the bed. Sooyoung stared at her upside down face with disinterest. Almost like she would rather be watching paint dry than dealing with the blonde. As much as she thought Jinsoul was hot, she knew bullying her would last much longer than if they started fooling around. There was always someone new willing to spend the night in her bed. Finding someone who had no choice but to follow her every silly demand was considerably harder. She was on a power trip and she didn’t want the ride to end. 

“Here then,” Sooyoung sighed, tapping a finger to just under her jaw. “If you want me to promise to never talk about this again, you have to kiss me here.” She knew there was no way Jinsoul would agree to something like that. Surely her relaxed attitude when it came to same sex attraction could only take her so far. Jinsoul struck her as one of those curious girls, which she honestly had nothing against. She would swear up and down that they tended to be the perfect hookups. There was no need to worry about them seriously falling for her because they always ended up with a boyfriend months later. But, they were both severely sober and girls like that usually needed a little liquid courage to make a move.

“What the hell Sooyoung! That’s cheating! I did it on the back of your neck the first time! You can’t just change the rules all of a sudden!” Jinsoul screeched, pounding her fist against the bed like she wasn’t a grown woman throwing a tantrum. 

Sooyoung lamely shrugged. While she had been enjoying their game, she was ready to have Jinsoul give up. She needed to go for her morning run and if she waited much longer the sun would be unbearable. 

Jinsoul was actually lucky, Sooyoung would have sent anyone else on their way home with a slap on the butt and a see you never by now. She also definitely wouldn’t have allowed all that annoying cuddling throughout the night. She had just cut the girl some slack because of their messy meeting with Lucas. 

“Fine,” Jinsoul breathed. 

“Huh,” Sooyoung scowled. 

“I said fine. I’ll do it. And you’ll never bring any of this shit up ever again.” Jinsoul warned, crawling closer to Sooyoung’s body. She threw a leg over the athlete’s stomach to comfortably sit on her. Jinsoul briefly worried that her weight would be too heavy on Sooyoung’s remarkably tiny frame. But ultimately she decided if she squished her to death that would actually be a good thing. 

The scowl hadn’t disappeared from Sooyoung’s face but her hands had naturally come up to rest on the blonde’s thighs again. 

“Jesus, don’t look so angry about it,” Jinsoul scoffed, flipping blonde hair over her shoulder like they weren’t in a compromising position.

“I didn’t think you’d actually do it,” Sooyoung answered, annoyed as she rolled her eyes. She really hated being wrong. She hated the idea of Jinsoul being right more. 

“You’re acting like this was my idea,” Jinsoul rested her hands just under Sooyoung’s chest, fully aware that she was braless, they both were. The weirdness of what she agreed to had yet to fully hit her. However, she was sure that she’d feel immense waves of embarrassment later when she was in the safety of her own bedroom. Under her sheets for the night and overthinking every little detail that led up to this very moment.

“Don’t act like you’re doing it just because I asked,” Sooyoung began to rub her thumbs across Jinsoul’s thighs. 

Jinsoul scoffed again as she purposely pushed down her full weight on the girl below her. She ignored how nice it felt and watched the way Sooyoung’s brow twitched with the pressure. 

“What's that supposed to mean? This is clearly the only way to make sure you don’t run your big stupid mouth at school in the future,” Jinsoul leaned forward to shoot an icy stare at Sooyoung. 

“If that’s what you have to tell yourself to sleep better at night, then sure. But, you do remember that I like girls right?” Sooyoung asked, sliding the tips of her fingers underneath Jinsoul’s shorts. 

Jinsoul grabbed Sooyoung’s wrists to hold her in place and keep from getting distracted. Truthfully she had forgotten, but it still wouldn’t change her determination. She didn’t care if the kiss excited Sooyoung. It wasn’t for her pleasure. 

“Please, if I ever wanted to kiss another girl you definitely wouldn’t even be in my top fifty. Anyways, so what? Is one little kiss going to make you fall in love with me or something?” The blonde questioned running her hands down Sooyoung's forearms. 

The athlete laughed and gripped her thighs tighter. 

“I find it hard to believe you have a top fifty and I’m not in it. Plus, you don’t have to worry, I don’t do love. But, if you’re as good with your tongue as you are using your lips to annoyingly yap away, then maybe, who knows? You could earn a spot on my booty call roster,” Sooyoung grinned, scratching her blunt nails against Jinsoul’s skin. It wasn’t lost on her that the blonde had involuntarily admitted to never doing anything with another girl. 

Jinsoul held back a gag, “you’re truly disgusting Sooyoung.”

Sooyoung beamed up at her, her fingers sliding further into her shorts. 

“I can’t understand how anyone finds you remotely attractive. You should honestly be repelling girls left and right with the way you act,” Jinsoul sighed, her hands coming back to rest below Sooyoung’s chest. “I mean there’s no way you actually show this side of yourself to the public right?”

“You talk too much,” Sooyoung groaned, ripping her hands from Jinsoul’s shorts to hold her head, frustrated. “I feel like my ears are bleeding from listening to yo-“ 

Jinsoul slapped a hand to Sooyoung’s mouth to shut her up. When the girl below her stopped talking against her palm, she moved it down to her chin. She roughly shoved her face to the left and leaned back down again. 

Sooyoung didn’t seem to mind the harsh manner in which the blonde treated her. In fact, her hands came up to hold onto Jinsoul’s sides as she waited patiently. She wasn’t expecting much but she was beginning to buzz with pangs of excitement low in her belly. 

However, when Jinsoul quickly pecked her neck and sat up stiff as a board, Sooyoung burst out laughing. The whole thing had reminded her of a bird miserably picking at discarded food on the streets. It was sad and she wanted nothing more but to bask in the blondes embarrassment. 

Jinsoul did her best to avoid the irritating way Sooyoung kept trying to catch her eyes. She had choked in the last seconds before her lips met tan skin. She had only ever done this with guys she liked in the past. And Sooyoung was definitely not someone she liked. She was hardly even someone she tolerated. It was also becoming extremely easy to push away any indecent thoughts when she looked down to see the taller girls stupid arrogant face. 

“I knew you were all talk barbie,” Sooyoung loudly sighed after her laughter had finally died down. She wiped at the corner of her eye with a small smile. 

“What? Do you want me to slobber all over your neck or something?” Jinsoul huffed, pushing down on Sooyoung again and making her wince. 

“Do you want me to show you how I want it?” Sooyoung swiftly recovered, squeezing Jinsoul’s sides again before moving her hands up until they were resting below her chest.

“No thanks,” Jinsoul quietly answered, feeling warm all over. 

“Do it right then,” Sooyoung ordered, turning her head to invite Jinsoul again. 

The blonde licked her lips before she leaned back down once more to plant another kiss against Sooyoung. This time she was extra slow to leave a wet trail from the taller girl's neck to her ear. 

Sooyoung shuddered and automatically ran her hand up the blonde’s back before tangling her fingers into her hair. At the sudden encouraging pressure Jinsoul eagerly sucked on the warm skin before giving it a bite she knew would hurt. She wanted it to hurt and when she heard Sooyoung’s breath hitch, she felt satisfied. Jinsoul licked a couple of more times against her pulse and then moved back to the bite. She gave it one last lick to soothe it and a soft kiss before hesitantly pulling away. Sooyoung's eyes fluttered open a beat later and she noticed they were tightly gripping onto each other's shirts. 

Sooyoung’s jaw tightened and if Jinsoul hadn’t been inches away she might have missed the burning flash of desire in the taller girl's eyes. Sooyoung was silent as she wrapped her arms around the blonde in what could almost be considered a hug. She pushed forward to sit up and Jinsoul slid down into her lap with a huff. She powerfully turned them until she was hovering over Jinsoul who was now laying down in her bed, blonde hair spread out like a fan. 

Jinsoul’s heart was pounding harder than she had ever remembered it doing so before. The air felt thick and Sooyoung’s focus lingered on Jinsoul’s lips. Her hand slowly came up to ghost over the blondes cheek and she slightly leaned into the touch.

“Sorry to break it to you, but you didn’t make the cut. Try again next year,” Sooyoung smiled and coldly moved her hand up to pat Jinsoul’s head condescendingly. She stood up and headed straight for her dresser. Rummaging through her clothes she pulled out a black sports bra and colorful running shorts. 

Jinsoul leaned up on her elbows to watch the athlete with a blushing scowl. 

“You’re such a bitch.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sooyoung took a couple of deep breaths before looking at her watch and putting two fingers to her pulse. A bruise had already started to form on her neck from Jinsoul’s bite and she knew it would be a pain in the ass to cover up for the first day of class tomorrow. She usually stuck to a rule of no visible hickies since she didn’t need people speculating about her private life. But just like before she had recklessly let Jinsoul be an exception in the heat of the moment. 

Sooyoung was still standing outside of her dorm room door with a layer of sweat making her skin glisten under the fluorescent lights of the hallway. She had taken a longer trail than usual for her sunday run. Half of the reason was to give Jinsoul enough time to shower if she wanted to and leave without awkwardly bumping into each other. The other half was because she hoped that it’d be able to subdue the hunger that had erupted when Jinsoul was sitting on her. The dull ache seemed to only get stronger as she ran down the nearly empty streets with no distractions. 

Sooyoung sighed as she input her passcode and opened the door to complete silence. Slipping her running shoes off she made her way to the medium sized fridge and pulled out a cold water bottle. Cracking the top open she glanced around the corner to see her empty bed. Jinsoul had neatly folded her borrowed pajamas and placed them right at the center of her quilt. Everything looked normal to Sooyoung, there was nothing blaringly out of place and she let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. It wouldn’t have been the first time a girl had acted a little crazy with her. It was always a small worry she had in the back of her mind when bringing girls to her room. She wouldn’t be able to get her deposit back if they fucked up her walls or any of the furniture.

Chugging the majority of the bottle Sooyoung quickly picked up one of her towels and walked to the bathroom. She hesitated on the handle when she noticed the light and ventilation fan was on, she glanced back at the door. Her shoes were the only ones there, sighing but preparing herself for anything, she pushed the door open. 

Sooyoung’s eyes were automatically drawn to the mirror hanging over her small white porcelain sink. Her eyebrow twitched and she let out a loud scoff. 

“FUCK YOU,” was written in big bright red letters across the glass with her lipstick that was left open next to her toothpaste. Right under the words was a perfectly shaped kiss from Jinsoul’s lips.

Sooyoung brought her thumb up to her lips and gave it a lick not minding the almost immediate salty taste from her sweat. She reached out and used the saliva on her thumb to smudge the kiss stain with a frown. Sooyoung knew that pretty girls were always a little nuts and it seemed that Jinsoul was no different, even if she usually was timid around her. The thought should’ve worried her or at least made her angry. Instead, it just caused another painful pang of desire to pulse through her body. 

Sooyoung decided right there and then that she would make it her goal to break the blonde until she was a miserable mess. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jinsoul rolled her tense shoulders as she stared at her reflection in the glass window of the subway car door. She pouted as she tried to smooth out some of the wrinkles from her white shirt. She had found her clothes wedged between the wall and Sooyoung’s hamper. Initially it smelled a bit stuffy but she fixed it by spritzing a generous amount of the athletes perfume on. The thought of Sooyoung caused a deep scowl to form on her face. It had taken everything in her to not just destroy her room like she wanted. She absolutely hated feeling dumb and thats exactly what the other girl was able to do before she left. 

Feeling her phone vibrate in her pocket Jinsoul quickly fished it out thinking her mom had finally realized she wasn't back yet. She had forgotten to tell her mother that she wasn’t joining the girls on their trip. Thankfully it ended up working out in her favor because if she had and hadn’t come home last night, her mother probably would’ve rolled out the military search party. 

Just when she was about to mindlessly swipe right to answer she saw who exactly was calling. Sooyoung’s name screamed at her from the top of the screen and she had to fight the urge to mute the consistent ringing. This was the first time the taller girl had called her phone and she felt slightly anxious. 

Jinsoul chewed on her lip and glanced around the subway car. If the young couple weren’t sitting on the opposite end from her, she would've been alone. Remembering Sooyoung’s annoyingly clear demands to answer her whenever she called or texted she quietly groaned. 

“What?” Jinsoul huffed into the receiver of her phone as soon as she brought it up to her ear. She listened to the way the girl on the other end let out a dry chuckle. She could almost picture the deadly glare in Sooyoung’s eyes.

Sooyoung had stripped to her underwear and was leaning back against the wall while staring at the red letters. She had turned on the shower and steam had started to fog up the mirror. 

“I found your lovely message,” Sooyoung’s regularly smooth voice was distorted with static due to Jinsoul traveling underground. 

Jinsoul leaned against one of the metal bars and quietly hummed into the receiver.

“You ruined my expensive lipstick,” Sooyoung sighed, rolling the gold and black tube in her hand and examining the horribly smushed “tip” if it could even still be called that. 

“That's too bad,” Jinsoul answered curtly. She heard Sooyoung’s low laugh again and it put her on edge. She was sure that the other girl would be seething at finding her mirror and lipstick like that. She knew she would have if it was her Louboutin lipstick. 

“I bet it looked good on you though,” Sooyoung hummed, tossing the tube into the empty trash can with a flick of her wrist. It had been a gift from an obsessive lover anyways. 

Jinsoul furrowed her brows at the sudden compliment, fully expecting an insult to follow, but it never came. She puckered her lips at the window and was glad to see that they still had some color. 

“It does,” Jinsoul decided there was no point in lying about that. She had only noticed it because it was such a pretty color. She almost didn’t write the words when she saw how nice it went with her skin tone. 

Sooyoung lowly whistled as she ran her free hand up the lines of her abs. She watched her own movements through the reflection of the fogged up mirror. Her fingers slid down until they were playing with the band of her panties. She wondered if she could manage to get the blonde back to her dorm if she asked.

“Where are you right now Jinsoul?” Sooyoung breathed.

“Why do you sound so weird?” Jinsoul questioned right back. Her eyes fell on the couple that were holding hands and inches away from kissing. She definitely didn’t like the other girl calling her by her name. It sounded almost ominous over the phone and she held back a shiver

“I asked you first,” Sooyoung childishly replied. 

Jinsoul rolled her eyes and turned away from the couple. 

“See, this is why I did that to your stupid lipstick. You’re so insufferable, why can’t you just act normal with me,” Jinsoul angrily whispered. Even though there were only two other people riding with her she still didn’t want to be rude. 

“Normal how?” Sooyoung innocently questioned. Jinsoul could hear the smirk over the phone and she gripped the bar until her knuckles whitened.

“Oh I don’t know? Maybe try being nice to me,” Jinsoul huffed.

“Did I hurt your feelings?” Sooyoung asked. 

Jinsoul scoffed and pulled the phone away from her ear to look at the time that had elapsed. She really wished that her service would just give out. 

“Why don’t you take a look at your mirror again and tell me what you think,” Jinsoul hissed. 

“I think that you’re mad that I didn’t compliment your kissing,” Sooyoung replied coolly. 

“Compliment? You literally did the opposite of that. And either way I’m talking about how you’ve done nothing but harass me since we met. I get it, I destroyed your jacket and I’m totally sorry about that. I promise you I’m trying really hard to get it fixed. But that doesn’t give you the right to talk to me the way you do,” Jinsoul scowled. 

“Do you want to know what I really thought about your kissing?” Sooyoung almost purred into the receiver, ignoring Jinsoul’s angry rant. 

Jinsoul’s eyes widened and she hesitated as she threw a glance back at the couple, they were laughing at something on the man's phone. 

“What are you talking about? Did you not listen to a single thing I just said? This isn’t about that stupid kiss. Why would I care about what you really thought?” Jinsoul whispered.

“Ask me,” Sooyoung demanded. 

“I don’t ca-” Jinsoul started but was interrupted.

“Ask. Me.”

Jinsoul’s heart was pounding again and she bit her lip to try to calm down. Sooyoung’s voice had gotten huskier and it was making her stomach twist. 

“What did you really think, Sooyoung?” Jinsoul breathed, unsure of what was going on between them and why she was even allowing it to continue.

“I thought that you wer-” Sooyoung’s voice suddenly cut off. 

Jinsoul frowned but she waited for a couple of seconds before pulling her phone away from her ear. She thought at first that maybe Sooyoung was just messing with her again until she saw her bars were completely gone. 

The robotic sound of a female voice signaling the next stop and what side of the car the doors would open blasted through the speakers. The couple noisily stood up and headed for the doors closest to them. They were giggling and being cute, completely unaware of the only other person in the car with them.

Jinsoul stared at her phone in complete disbelief before letting out a strangled cry. The couple stopped talking to shoot her bewildered stares. She stomped her foot down on the floor as the doors slid open to an empty platform. She turned to look at them when she felt their eyes burning holes in her skull and couldn’t hold back anymore, screw her manners. She had become the biggest idiot for the second time that morning all thanks to Sooyoung. 

“What the fuck are you looking at?”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I got a little carried away with this chapter... Let me know what y’all thought! 

Stay safe and healthy everyone!


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